Design Experience in Minimizing Radiation Exposure to Personnel During Maintenance of BWR Power Plants

As nuclear power plants become older, in-vessel maintenance to high radiation components will become more common. This paper describes General Electric’s experience in making such repairs on Boiling Water Reactors and how the use of engineering and project management enhances the productivity of special maintenance projects. Design techniques employed to minimize personnel radiation exposure are discussed. Specialized remote, automatic, and semi-automatic equipment designs are presented. Included are sample descriptions of special tools developed, problems encountered, and lessons learned.