Design of a power, communications, and cable system for use with a robotic crawler for CANDU fuel channel inspection

Abstract

Canadian Deuterium-Uranium Reactors (CANDU) are currently the only kind of power reactor used in Canada. These reactors supply a large quantity of the energy consumed in Canada. CANDU reactors require regular fuel channel inspection to ensure safety and performance. Fuel channel inspection is currently done one channel at a time which results in significant reactor downtime. The proposed system is a robotic crawler inspection system which can inspect the fuel channels while sealed inside the reactor. This allows for simultaneous inspection of multiple fuel channels using multiple copies of the system. The work in this thesis describes improvements to an existing inspection system. New hardware and software was created for the robotic crawler to improve the performance of different subsystems, as well as facilitate the complete separation of the system from the outside of the reactor. A new cable system was also designed to allow the crawler to have its power and communications system located inside the end-fitting of the fuel channel. The crawler was modified to function wirelessly from the operator, removing the need for wires to be led from the fuel channel to the operator’s device. A proof of concept prototype was created which demonstrates that the system can be operated remotely and that all subsystems can be placed inside of the fuel channel during inspection.