Leak detection in pressure tubes of a pressurised heavy water reactor by acoustic emission technique

Abstract

Leak detection in the fuel channels is one of the challenging problems during the in-service inspection (ISI) of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). In this paper, the use of an acoustic emission (AE) technique together with AE signal analyses is described, to detect a leak that was encountered in one (or more) of the 306 fuel channels of the Madras Atomic Power Station (PHWR), Unit 1. The paper describes the problems encountered during the ISI, the experimental methods adopted and the results obtained. Results obtained using acoustic emission signal analysis are compared with those obtained from other leak detection methods used in such cases.