Patent ID: 7690257

Claim:
A method for testing a weld seam located on an inner surface of a reactor pressure vessel and connecting an outer circumference of an instrumentation nozzle leading into an interior of the reactor pressure vessel to the reactor pressure vessel, the method which comprises: inserting an ultrasound test probe into the instrumentation nozzle, coupling a transmitted ultrasound signal into the instrumentation nozzle in a region of the weld seam and receiving a reflected ultrasound signal with the ultrasound test probe for determining a presence of faults in the weld seam; generating the ultrasound signal with at least one linear ultrasound transducer array constructed from a plurality of transducer elements arranged next to one another in a longitudinal direction, the transducer array having a longitudinal direction extending parallel to the central axis; and causing the transmitted ultrasound signal to propagate inside the instrumentation nozzle at an oblique angle to the central axis of the instrumentation nozzle by actuating the transducer elements of the transducer array with a time delay with respect to one another for adjusting the oblique angle.