Design and application of an automated video inspection system for the inner wall of pressure vessels in nuclear power plant reactors

Abstract The pressure vessel of a nuclear power plant reactor is one of the key equipment in pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants, and its inner wall is an essential component of the pressure boundary in the primary loop. The inner wall of the reactor pressure vessel is subjected to long-term alternating stress and fluid erosion caused by the flow of the working fluid, which can easily form various surface defects such as pitting and unevenness. In order to timely detect and handle such defects while taking into account the maintenance period and personnel radiation risks, this paper designs an automated video inspection system for the inner wall of the pressure vessel of a nuclear power plant reactor with telescopic and pitching functions, which realizes the automatic video scanning of the inner wall of the pressure vessel and the precise positioning of defects.