A new method for detecting pressure tube failures in Indian PHWRs

For the annulus gas system (AGS) of the standardised Indian pressurised heavy water reactor, an elaborate pressure tube (PT) crack monitoring and detection system is envisaged to ensure safety through leak-before-break. The parameters that are monitored relate to the detection of D2O moisture leaking in from the primary heat transport (PHT) system through a cracked PT. Since a slow build-up of moisture in the AGS may also occur for reasons other than PT failure, it is desirable that a diverse measurement technique should be available. This paper suggests such a technique, based on the observation that a small reference concentration of fission gases is normally present in the annulus gas. This concentration would change sharply upon PT failure, when the heavy water from the leaking PHT system releases the dissolved fission gas content into the annulus. This paper presents a theoretical study of the parameters that influence the build-up of fission product noble gases in the AGS and shows that leakage rates as low as 10 g h-1 from a PT crack can be detected in a few tens of minutes by this method. This is expected to substantially increase the available time between the leak detection and the PT failure, thus serving as an important tool in meeting the leak-before-break criterion of a critical component in PHWRs. (orig.)