Patent Number: 
Section: claims

1. A system to monitor a control rod movement mechanism of a nuclear power plant, comprising:an electrical connector configured to connect to one or more test points of the control rod movement mechanism;an impedance measuring unit configured to obtain signal values from the test points during operation of the nuclear power plant, and to determine a present impedance of at least one component of the control rod movement mechanism based on obtained signal values; anda control unit configured to compare the present impedance to a reference impedance, and to generate a graphical output indicating degradation of the control rod movement mechanism if the present impedance deviates from the reference impedance by a predetermined amount. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the impedance measuring unit obtains voltage and current values as the signal values. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one component of the control rod movement mechanism includes a coil, connector, cable, or any combination thereof. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the reference impedance corresponds to historical impedance measurements of the control rod movement mechanism during operation of the nuclear power plant. 5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a recording unit configured to record one or more determined impedances corresponding to the at least one component to determine the reference impedance. 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the impedance measuring unit is further configured to measure a resistance of the at least one component to determine a temperature of the at least one component. 7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a graphical output configured to display one or more signal values associated with the at least one component. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the graphical output includes plotting the one or more signal values over a time period including one or more energy states and transitions between energy states of the at least one component.