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Nuclear Instrumentation or Radiation Monitors Interfering With Moving Fuel

A CHAR Team can quickly identify and resolve electrical noise interference with these systems. We have been doing this for nearly 20 years and were originally known as the “noise busters” We are familiar with nearly all the different systems: GE, Westinghouse, CE, Gamma Metrics, Sorrento, etc. Whether it is a cable or connector problem or a detector problem, we can find the answers. We have been known to fly in at noon and leave at midnight.

Our Automatic characterization system was designed to test cables. We can identify aging or damage with low voltage tests, measuring the Insulation resistance, the dissipation factor, capacitance (or inductance) and obtain a Time Domain Signature. If you have installed new cables, it is good to baseline this information so you can spot those devious early failure issues.

Electromagnetic interference will be the culprit if this system doesn’t operate as expected. It may be that this is a non-safety system and you weren’t required by the NRC to perform immunity testing – or you haven’t interpreted the installation guidelines properly to prevent electromagnetic interference. These issues are not black magic, but it does help to have someone with extensive experience help in these areas. It may not be a Safety issue; but, can you afford the down time if you have a problem after startup?

Are you using critical re-fueling resources to deal with nuisance alarms? It may be that the outage is not the time to deal with solving these problems; but it certainly might be the time to START the solution process. While it is not always an electromagnetic interference problem, CHAR can identify the actual problem and start the process of eliminating the nuisance alarms.