NM200ECore Verification System

The revolutionary nuclear fuel mapping system

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Newton Labs

• Established in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990 as an offshoot of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) and moved to Seattle in

1995

• Specializes in machine vision and robotics with an emphasis on automation

• Many of Newton’s projects are the first-of-their-kind in the world

• Newton engineers and staff design and manufacture all their own machine

vision and robotics software and virtually all of their own hardware,

including controllers, electronics, machine control and mechanics.

• The NM200E Core Verification System resulted from a 2008 partnership

with Exelon

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Overview

• An Industry Opportunity

o The Challenge: Accurately Mapping PWRs

• The Newton / Exelon Objective

o Design Objectives of the Newton Core Verification System

• The Newton Solution

o Newton Fuel Mapping Solution

o NM200E Core Verification System

o Details About the Components

• Deploying The Newton NM200E Solution

o Deployment Examples

o Mounting the Mapping Head

o Sequence of Operation

o Required Information

o Contact Information

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An Industry Opportunity

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The Challenge: Accurately Mapping PWR Rx Internals

• Visual inspection methods are imprecise and can allow misaligned fuel

assemblies to be overlooked or misjudged with results like the following:

o November 2009 – Oconee, USA, fuel damage

o September 2009 - Gravelines, France,, fuel assembly lifted while removing

upper internals

o September 2008 & May 2009 - Tricastin, France, lifted assemblies

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The Newton / Exelon Objective

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Design Objectives of the Newton Core Verification System

• Develop an automatic, machine vision mapping system for Westinghouse and

AREVA-type PWR Rx Internals to provide plant operators with precision

measurements, enabling them to detect and record misaligned fuel assemblies

which could become damaged or stuck, similar to what occurred at Oconee or

EDFs Gravelines /Tricastin plants.

• Map critical core dimensions to within +/- 0.050 thousandths of an inch (0.6 mm)

and provide measurements in near real-time to refueling bridge operators and

other need-to-know personnel.

• Within a two hour time period, be able to deploy, acquire data, and remove the

measuring device.

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Loss Time Potential

• Of the 265 PWRs worldwide, 10 events involving damaged or stuck fuel

assemblies have occurred, with four recorded recently

• Return On Investment (ROI) calculation:

o Event average - 20 days for recovery

o Industry total 200 days of critical path

o Over the next 10 year period Exelon would most likely anticipate:

• 200 CP days/265 PWR Units x 5 Exelon units

• 3.75 critical path days

• A machine vision mapping system for PWR Rx Cores will alert plant operators to

out of tolerance fuel assemblies reducing costly “surprises.”

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The Newton NM200E Solution

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The Newton Fuel Mapping Solution

• The NM200E Core Verification System uses a proven technology - machine vision

• It accurately measures and digitally records the actual positions of the fuel

assemblies and compares these with the ideal positions (which are supplied by

plant operators)

• The system provides the reactor services crew and reactor engineering with

detailed, accurate measurements to determine if there will be any issues with the

installation of the upper internals or reactor plenum

• The mapping head is deployable to within five feet

(1.5 meters) of the core, affixed to the gripper on

the refueling mast

• Target schedule: deploy, completely scan the

entire core and remove within a two hour period

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The Newton Fuel Mapping Solution

• Real time core positional measurement of s-holes for a go/no-go criteria of Rx

internals / fuel interface

• The NM200E mapping headdesign takes into consideration the challenging

environment of the reactor core; materials and components have been selected

with radiation tolerance in mind

• Clear and very usable, high resolution images (1296 x 966 pixels)

are delivered at the optimum height of five feet (1.5 meters)

above the fuel assemblies

• The mapping head has an LED illumination source of 4,800 lumens

and is not affected by the presence or absence of core lighting

• Newton-developed sophisticated software is used to mitigate

thermal effects which is essential for accurate mapping and dimensioning

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The Newton Fuel Mapping Solution

• The fuel assemblies map on user’s interface (U.I.) is easy to understand. Positional accuracy of the s-holes and baffle wall is within a +/- 0.050” (0.6 mm) tolerance for all areas measured

• Westinghouse and AREVA plants have detailed specifications on how far the fuel assemblies can deviate from their design parameters before any issues or problems occur with the interaction between the fuel assemblies and the upper internals, or the reactor plenum.

• The Newton NM200E system is pre-loaded with these specifications and automatically alerts operators if there are any interference problems.

• The field of view (FOV), or effective area of coverage, from any one position is 4x3 bundles (plus required overlap). This equates to approximately 38 unique moves of the bridge to complete the mapping process.

• After the core map is recorded, the U.I. displays a simple green, yellow or red status for each assembly, in addition to their precise global coordinates.

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Newton NM200E Core Verification System

• The NM200E mapping head encloses a high-resolution video camera and a high-

intensity LED ring array

• The console unit contains the mapping head control unit, a rack-mounted PC, flat

panel screen and wireless keyboard with trackball

• The communications cable is a standard length of 150 ft. (45.72 m); lengths up to

300 ft. (91 m) may be special ordered

• Newton Labs core mapping software

• Components are housed in two,

high-impact airline-transportable

luggage cases

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NM200E Mapping Head

Specifications

Height 4.5 in. (114 mm)

Width 4.60 in. (1183 mm)

Length 8.64 in. (219 mm)

Weight (in air) 9 lbs. (4 kg)

Weight (in water) 2 lbs. (1 kg) (plus cable weight)

Construction Machined from 6061T6 aluminum

billet

Video camera High Resolution Monochrome

Power input Powered by control console

LED ring array 4.800 lumens

Fittings & retainers 300 series stainless steel

Windows Fused silica or optical glass

Mounting

attachments

Four grouped 1/4-20 UNC threaded

mounting holes on four sides of case

(Metric threads available)

Depth rating 150 ft. (46 m)

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NM200E Control Console

Specifications

Height 14.75 in. (375 mm)

Width 26.75 in. (679 mm)

Length 27.50 in. (699 mm)

Weight 84.5 lbs. (38 kg)

Construction Metal electronics rack suspended on

eight shock absorbers within a

molded, high-impact, airline-

transportable case

Output ports Ethernet, USB, DVI, VGA & HDMI

Operating

temperature

40 to 110 F (5 to 43 C)

Power input voltage 100 to 240 VAC 50 to 60 cycle

Data storage Internal solid state & USB stick

Output format XML, CSV, PNG & PDF

Operating system Ubuntu Linux 11.04

Cable LLDPE polyurethane jacket, gel filled

- 150 ft. (46 m) 23.6 lbs. (11 kg)

(other lengths available)

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Deploying the Newton NM200E Solution

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Deployment Examples

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NM200E deployed at

Byron Nuclear

Generating Station,

near Byron, Illinois in

April 2011

NM200E deployed

earlier at Braidwood

Generating Station,

near Braidwood, Illinois

NM200E deployed at

the EDF Belleville

station near Sancerre,

France in late

November 2010

Required Information Prior to Deployment

• The fuel nozzle layout plan, detailing placement of old and new fuel bundles

• As-built fuel assembly drawing, containing nozzle width, s-hole diameter and location

of s-holes within the nozzle

• Ideal gaps between baffle and nozzle, and nozzle to nozzle

• Baffle wall thickness

• Baffle height above s-hole plane

• Camera mounting information

• The Newton software will use these inputs to generate an ideal core map at run-time

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Mounting the Mapping Head

• The following method assures a stable image and precision

measurement:

o In a topside work area, bolt the mapping head into the false fuel

nozzle carrier unit

o Lower this assembly with a pole or hooked line to a holding area on

the floor of the refuel cavity during non-critical path time

o Once re-fueling has been completed, pick up the mapping assembly

with the mast gripper and proceed to the Rx

o Map the core

o Upon completion of the mapping, return the mapping assembly to the

holding area on the refuel cavity floor

o With a pole or hooked line, lift the assembly from the floor and

remove the mapping head from the carrier off critical path

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NM200E Mapping Head, Carrier and Mast Gripper

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False nozzle mapping head

carrier (Note s-holes on upper corners)

Mapping head within the

carrier on a pull-pad in

the cavity

An alternate version

of the carrier with the

mapping head on the

fueling mast gripper

Sequence of Operation

• The NM200E mapping head is rigidly mounted to the mast gripper, and lowered to

five feet (1.5 m) above the fuel assemblies.

• The bridge operator generally commands the bridge to a predefined location (for

example, N3) above the core, but the starting point could effectively be anywhere

• The software predefines the movement path to ensure adequate overlapping

FOV's across the core

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Sequence of Operation

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• The live video feed from the mapping head is displayed with a graphical alignment

overlay generated from the fuel layout map. This reconfirms that the system is alive,

ready and producing the anticipated images (clear, level, square, etc.) and that the

system is ready to begin mapping

Sequence of Operation - Operator Screen View

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NM200E software overlays a graphic of identified

s-hole locations atop the real-time image.

The Results Tab

lists the deltas of

all located s-holes

in U.S. inches or metric

The Core Map

displays the current

mapping location

and the in or out-of-

tolerance status of

each fuel assembly,

compared to the

ideal. (The fuel assemblies in

this scan area are all

within tolerance)

Sequence of Operation - Operator Screen View

• When the Results Map is selected, it displays a graphical core representation

identifying the location of found s-holes (red circles) in relation to their ideal

locations (light-blue circles)

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Based on input

from plant

engineers, the

Core Map shows

new fuel as light

gray squares and

old fuel as dark

gray squares

Sequence of Operation

• The NM200E takes a series of 10 images at the first location that are processed using multiple techniques to accurately generate baffle and s-hole positions for all fuel assemblies in the field of view.

• The elements are highlighted on screen as follows:

o Found baffle segments as a green line (indicating the center of the baffle)

o S-hole regions-of-interest as turquoise boxes

o Found s-holes as pink circles

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Sequence of Operation

• A global estimate of each s-hole location (in mm/inches) is generated, using the

detected baffle position as a fixed reference point.

• The software identifies non-standard gaps and indicates fuel assemblies that are

rotated or shifted. This screen shows that all possible s-holes at this location have

been charted.

• The core map updates automatically, saving all images and data to multi-storage

units, the mapping head is moved to the next location and the procedure repeats.

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Sequence of Operation

• The software combines and correlates the s-hole locations identified in all

previous FOVs with the current FOV to account for changes in mapping head

rotation and alignment, producing refined s-hole location estimates.

• Upon reach a baffle opposite the starting point, the mapping head is shifted

laterally, maintaining some FOV overlap. The process is repeated in the reverse

direction, continuing through the core in a zig-zag pattern until all fuel assemblies

have been seen by the system.

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Sequence of Operation

• The core map display on the operator's screen visually indicates the final results

of each mapped fuel assembly in one of three colors:

o Green - for within tolerance

o Yellow - for within tolerance, but greater than the specified gap

o Red - for out-of-tolerance

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Contact Information

Newton Labs441 SW 41st Street

Renton, WA 98057 USA

Tel: 425-251-9600

Fax: 425-251-8900

www.newtonlabs.com

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Thank You

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