Electromagnetic Inductive Coupling Analysis (EMICA) for In Situ Monitoring of Insulation on Energized Cables

Statement of the problem or situation that is being addressed throughout Phase I portion of your proposal. The power, instrument, and control cabling that is used in nuclear power plants (NPPs) is subject to relatively harsh conditions that may accelerate degradation and shorten cable lifetime, especially for the outer insulation. The majority of NPP cabling in-use today is 50+ years old and periodic inspection is critical for maintaining safe operations. Operators applying for license extensions on existing NPPs are often required to develop a cable management program to ensure the safety of the plant. Currently, these plans rely on destructive testing, or taking a cable out of service so the test can be done in a de-energized state. General statement of how this problem is being addressed. TDA proposes using pulsed Electro Magnetic Inductive Coupling Analysis - Time Domain Reflectometry (pulsed EMICA-TDR) to quantify overall cable health/degradation in NPPs. The key innovation that will enable real time NDE on energized cables is inductively isolating the section of cable being probed. Combining common clamp-style non-contact current probes to transmit EMICA-TDR signals into the cable with a novel isolation approach ensures that data/power transmission from NPP operations will not interfere with the EMICA-TDR interrogation (or vice versa). What is to be done in Phase I? During the Phase I project, TDA will address two major shortcomings of traditional NPP cable health monitoring by implementing pulsed EMICA-TDR to inspect the insulation and the conductor of the cable simultaneously. Phase I work will culminate with a functional prototype unit that has been demonstrated on energized cables. This prototype will be an excellent jumping off point for engaging DOE and other stakeholders in the Phase II project. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits EMICA-TDR also enables spatially locating where hotspots or problematic areas occur along the cable length while simultaneously probing both the inner conductor and the outer insulator. Outside the nuclear industry, such a cable-testing device which works on energized cables has wide use in cables supporting communications and infrastructure necessary for transformational technologies such as electric cars, trains and planes and anything in our daily lives that requires conduction of electric energy. As more and more conducting materials underpin our daily lives, the need for non-contact non-destructive evaluation (NDE) which can assess cable health in service and over long distances of cable also increases.