Development of optical devices for visual feedback for hot-cell and reactor applications

Due to the inaccessibility of the radioactive areas and the limited field of vision from the shielded windows, the visual feedback based on optical instruments plays a major role in the operation, monitoring and inspection of radioactive areas. One of the solutions to overcome these limitations is to install CCTV cameras inside the active area. However, the camera electronics get damaged due to the ionizing radiations, so the cameras, therefore, have limited life. This leads to the requirement of frequent replacements, resulting in lower availability of the facility and man-rem to the personnel involved in the replacements. In order to provide a facility for viewing active areas various periscopes and shielded camera-based optical devices, have been designed. The development of various such optical devices has been covered in this paper. (author)