Patent Number: 048266507
Section: abstract

In a boiling water reactor, an apparatus and process for ultrasound inspection of the top guide is disclosed. The top guide constitutes a lattice of stainless steel bars overlying the core plate and being assembled at confronting grooves with the lattice mounted at the side edges to the reactor pressure vessel. This lattice braces the upper ends of the vertically supported fuel assemblies in their requisite orientation and spaced apart relation to enable among other things the required spatial interval to be maintained for control rod moderation of the reaction. Because of the proximity of the top guide to the fuel assemblies, the individual bars making up the lattice need to be checked for cracking, especially that cracking produced by irradiation assisted stress crack corrosion. With a defined cell in the lattice emptied of its contained and adjoining fuel assemblies, there is disclosed an ultrasound test for cracking. A sound transducer on a first special frame sweeps horizontally across the top of a bar interrogating the bar with vertical ultrasound waves for detecting horizontal cracks. Similarly, a sound transducer on a second special frame sweeps vertically across the side of a bar interrogating the bar with angularly incident horizontal ultrasound waves for detecting vertical cracks. Nondestructive testing of the lattice assembly occurs without required disassembly.