Device for failed fuel element detection in a shut-down water-cooled reactor

The suggested device is intended for detection of non-hermetic heat-emitting elements on the shut-down nuclear reactor with a water coolant by the activity of iodine-132. The device comprises a sample-taking tube, a gamma-spectrometric pick-up, a discriminator, and a recorder. The distinguishing feature of the device is the use of the automatic arrangement for express separation of iodine from the coolant sample and the integral discriminator which are located between the sample-taking tube and the pick-up. They are used in order to completely eliminate the background of other active isotopes in the coolant sample to obtain better efficiency and automation, and to cut the check time. The discriminator threshold is set to pass into the recorder the pulses conditioned by gamma-quanta with an energy in excess of 0.75 MeV