Inspection Qualification of Ultrasonic Inspection for RPV Safe End Narrow Gap Welding With Visualization of Laser Ultrasonic Detection Technology and Computerized Ultrasonic Simulation

According to the method used in ENIQ (European Network of Inspection and Qualification), the performance demonstration of automatic ultrasonic inspection on the narrow-gap welds between the safe-ends (forging) and primary pipe (casting) in one PWR Nuclear Power Plant in China, was successfully finished. The visualization of the laser ultrasonic detection technology — which was introduced for the first time — and ultrasonic simulation technology, were used to study the dynamic propagation of the ultrasonic beam in the narrow-gap welds, in order to provide technical support for performance demonstration and field inspection.