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Rolled Joint Leak Tester

Summary:

Leak testing of Calandria tube rolled joints during CANDU reactor refurbishment. The reactor face, shown here, consists of hundreds of tubes that must each be leak tested.

Image

Project:

Leak Test Tool

Industry:

Nuclear

Environment:

Irradiated

Tool Weight:

2000 lb

Details: 

As many CANDU 6 reactors reach the end of their service life, refurbishing them to continue operations is a cost-effective option. 

During refurbishment of two such reactors in New Brunswick and Wolsong, the high-pressure calandria tubes needed to be replaced. Each new tube was sealed with a rolled joint, and each joint required leak testing before the reactor could be restarted. 

To solve this problem, Applied Kinetics designed a tool which seals against the face and the inside of the tube, and is capable of both a vacuum decay test and a helium leak test. Complicated by tight space requirements, many sources of misalignment, and the need for radiation shielding, this project presented significant design challenges.

As always Applied Kinetics delivered the project on time and on budget.