Remote material analysis of nuclear power station steam generator tubes bylaser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

We report on a novel design 75-m length umbilical fiber-optic LIBS (FOLIBS) system suitable for remotely determining the copper content of 316H austen itic stainless steel superheater bifurcation tubing within the pressure ves sels of Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR) nuclear power stations. The syste m was deployed during the routine reactor outage programs for Hunterston 'B ' and Hinkley Point 'B' stations during the summer of 1999 and used success fully to determine the copper content of the bifurcations over the range 0. 04% < Cu < 0.60% (by mass). Measurement times per bifurcation were typicall y less than 3 min and measurement accuracy was approximately +/- 25%. (C) 2 001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.