Tecnatom has developed a new robot-operated system, ROBBIN (Remotely Operated Baffle Bolts Inspection), for the volumetric and visual inspection of the internals of PWR reactor vessels, as well as the baffle bolts. This system consists of an underwater vehicle controlled from the surface and equipped with the technological developments necessary to perform measurements by means of the ultrasonic method using the phased-array technique.
The baffle bolts are bolts located in the lower internals of the nuclear reactor vessel and need to be inspected in order to ensure their structural integrity throughout the life cycle of the plant.
This new equipment developed by Tecnatom is especially adapted for operation in high radiation fields, is fitted with propulsion devices allowing it to be moved and positioned in the areas of interest, incorporates a positioning system allowing for the movement of the measuring tools on 4 independent vehicle movement axes and uses the entire data acquisition and analysis system developed by Tecnatom.
This equipment increases the efficiency of the inspection activities for this type of components since it does not require use of the gantry crane, allows other activities to be performed in parallel inside the vessel and frees up space and resources on the refuelling platform, compared to other inspection equipment.
