METHOD FOR CHECKING PROCESS-CHANNEL-TO-GRAPHITE- STACKING CLEARANCE IN RBMK NUCLEAR REACTOR Russian patent published in 2000 - IPC

FIELD: prediction of terms of repairs or replacement of reactor core equipment. SUBSTANCE: thermal scanning devices are inserted in channel, the latter is filled with water whose temperature is lower than that of channel wall, rate of wall cooling down at reference points is measured, then water is drained, and rate of wall heating at reference points is measured; distance between reference points is to be equal to that between large and small graphite rings of stacking; there should be at least four check points in cross-sectional area of channel and they should be arranged in pairs along maximal channel diameter lines. EFFECT: improved reliability, speed, and validity of clearance check results. 2 dwg