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Development of Dummy Rod Insertion Tool for Fuel Rod Extracted Assembly
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Post Irradiation Examination Facility (PIEF) is a test facility for nuclear fuel research and development and performance evaluation. From the past to the present, assemblies and fuel rods have been transported from nuclear power plants (NPP) several times, and various destructive and non-destructive tests have been performed. Among these, in the case of the 14×14 Westinghouse STD assemblies that are transported as a whole assembly, the top nozzle is connected to the guide tube by welding. Therefore, the fuel rods could not be removed from the assembly at the NPP, so the assemblies were transported to PIEF as is. Then, after cutting between the top nozzle and the guide tube in the pool, and the fuel rods were extracted and tested. In order to transport the assembly in the future, it is necessary to maintain stability by inserting the dummy rod into the unit cell from which the fuel rod is extracted. However, since the length of the dummy rod is almost 4 m and the diameter is about 10 mm, the dummy rod often bends while passing through the dimple spring of the grid. Additionally, when dummy rods are inserted into unit cells that are continuously empty after the fuel rods are extracted, there may be cases where the dummy rods are not inserted into the desired unit cell but are bent and incorrectly inserted into the next unit cell. The moment the dummy rods are inserted into the dimple spring of grid, a load is applied to the dummy rod due to the tension of the spring. If it can be inserted while offsetting the load, the work can be performed more smoothly. Accordingly, an underwater handling tool was developed that can be inserted while offsetting the tension of the spring. Using this handling tool applies a load to the dummy rod and rotates the dummy rod itself, offsetting the tension of the spring and allowing the dummy rod to be inserted without bending. This handling tool is equipped with a shock absorbing device to protect the dummy rod and spring, and a module to rotate the dummy rod. As a result of inserting the dummy rod using the developed handling tool, it was possible to easily insert the dummy rod into unit cells that were previously impossible to insert.
