Prototype of an Echo-PIV Method for Use in Underwater Nuclear Decommissioning Inspections

Abstract

The ongoing decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi (1F) nuclear power plant requires the inspection of the inside of containment vessels that have been submerged in water. These inspections must locate leaks and map the distribution of fuel debris in water with very low visibility. This paper reports the design and testing of an echo-PIV system that uses a single divergent signal wave and delay-and-sum processing to efficiently map the interior and fluid flow within a submerged vessel. The diverging wave and delay-and-sum processing improve upon the performance of conventional ultrasound PIV methods specifically to meet the demands of containment-vessel inspections. The imaging method uses an ultrasonic linear sensor array that emits a diverging wave that covers a wide angle with a single transmission. The delay-and-sum algorithm combines echo signals recorded by each element of the sensor array. We optimized the design of an echo-PIV system in laboratory-scale tests, and then tested the prototype with a mockup of a containment vessel in a water tank. The small-scale prototype successfully located a mock leak and mapped the surface of a piece of mock debris. This prototype can be scaled up readily for inspections at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Research on High Robustness Underwater Target Estimation Method Based on Variational Sparse Bayesian Inference

“…In their research, Kawachi et al demonstrated the design and testing of an echo-PIV system that efficiently mapped the interior and fluid flow of a submerged vessel using a single divergent signal wave and delay-and-sum processing. However, the DW-DAS echo-PIV method is not useful for sensing leakage points and underwater debris at relatively short distances and over a narrow field of view [3]. Meanwhile, Shostak et al proposed a new method for estimating the distance to any underwater object or physical phenomenon by analyzing the curvature of the wavefront and its impact on the measuring sonar system of correlated noise.…”