Advanced Cutting Experiences for a Nuclear Power Plant Application

Author

Casanueva, Rosario ; Azcondo, Francisco J. ; Alcedo, Lidia ; Jiménez, Jorge

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Technol., Syst. & Autom. Eng., Univ. of Cantabria, Santander, Spain

Volume

46

Issue

1

fYear

2010

Firstpage

89

Lastpage

93

Abstract

The maintenance and repair services in nuclear power plants are characterized by a critical operating environment. In this paper, the technical requirements and the quality assurance applicable to cutting equipment designed for a special nuclear power plant application are defined. The real practical case operation is to cut fuel alignment pins. Three techniques are evaluated to perform the underwater operation: (1) traditional machining by means of an abrasive cutting wheel; (2) metal disintegration machining; and (3) electrical discharge machining. The qualification procedure of the alignment pin removal tools and the resulting cuts are reported.

Keywords

cutting tools; electrical discharge machining; nuclear power stations; nuclear reactor maintenance; underwater equipment; water jet cutting; abrasive cutting wheel; advanced cutting experiences; alignment pin removal tools; cutting equipment; electrical discharge machining; maintenance services; metal disintegration machining; nuclear power plant; repair services; underwater operation; Field or on-site machining; machining techniques; maintenance, nuclear power plant; pulse power generation; underwater equipment;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-9994

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIA.2009.2036671

Filename

5339208