EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE SENSORS FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

AS A RESULT OF RECENT PROBLEMS SUCH AS THE OIL LOSS PHENOMENON IN SOME MODELS OF ROSEMOUNT PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS, THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY HAS BECOME INTERESTED IN FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS. THESE TRANSMITTERS ARE POTENTIAL CANDIDATES TO REPLACE THE EXISTING PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS IN THE SAFETY AND NON-SAFETY SYSTEMS OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. FURTHERMORE, FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS MAY BE INCORPORATED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL (I&C) SYSTEMS FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF REACTORS OR IN OLDER PLANTS WHICH ARE RETROFITTED WITH NEW I&C. THIS PROPOSAL OFFERS AN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH PROJECT TO ESTABLISH THE STATE-OF-THE-ART IN FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE SENSING, EVALUATE THE RELIABILITY OF EXISTING FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS, AND DETERMINE THE DESIGN AND QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS THAT FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS MUST MEET TO BE USED IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS. IN PHASE I, COMMERCIAL FIBER OPTIC PRESSURE TRANSMITTERS WILL BE ACQUIRED AND TESTED IN THE LABORATORY UNDER NORMAL AND ACCIDENTAL CONDITIONS.