OREANDA-NEWS. Remote controlled manipulator for blinding defective steam generator heat exchange pipes has been successfully tested at Kola NPP.

The system was tested by experts from Tecnatom (Spain), WesDyne TRC (Sweden) and VUJE (Slovakia), who also instructed local specialists on how to operate the new equipment.

The project advisor Adrian Kovalik from VUJE (Slovakia) explained how the system is used and what for: “During planned maintenance you generally find different defects in heat exchange pipes. Pipes with critical defects are subject to blinding, Formerly, blinding was carried out manually. Now, we have made this process automated and, consequently, quicker and more effective. Due to this system, an experienced operator can put as many as four plugs in an hour. Our manipulators are successfully used at Bohunice NPP (Slovakia), Dukovany and Temelin NPPs (the Czech Republic) and South-Ukrainian NPP (Ukraine).”

“Your specialists have mastered this system very quickly and already doing quite well,” Kovalik said.