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Nuclear Engineering Services (NES) of Wolverhampton, has completed a contract for the manufacture, assembly and supply of C-Tubes for six charge thermocouple Standpipe Assemblies (SPA’s).
NES's technical experience and expertise in manufacturing equipment for nuclear operations was vital in securing the award of the contract, which was completed in early 2010.
The C-Tubes were manufactured at NES’s head office in Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, then after stringent functional testing transported to Oldbury Power Station, South Gloucestershire for installation.
Olbury has two Magnox gas cooled nuclear reactors, each incorporating 100 fuelling standpipes. These are used to load new fuel to approximately 3200 fuel channels and remove spent fuel.
Thermocouples measure and help to regulate the extreme temperatures which are experienced in the reactor. Normal reactor conditions involve hot 365ºC, pressurised (365-psog) carbon dioxide. To be able to accurately measure fuel element temperatures a shield plug assembly is used to “close” each standpipe.
In 2008, a landmark decision meant that the planned closure of the Oldbury Power Station was deferred until at least 2010. This meant that current services had to be secured for this time period and crucially that the C-Tube components needed to be replenished.
SPA’s consist of a closure unit at the top, a middle shielding section and a C-Tube at the bottom. NES’s replacement C-Tubes are chain operated and deploy at the point that the instrumented fuel element is lowered into one of the 4 inner radius channels, as the top section continues to move.
The C-Tubes are an integral part of the SPA unit, from which the 100 instrumented elements can provide accurate reactor temperature distribution, as well as acting as a safety trip mechanism.
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