Surveys of embedded piping for Shoreham license termination

In planning the decommissioning of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station (SNPS) in Wading River, N.Y., it was determined that the cost of removing contaminated floor drain piping was prohibitive. The piping is typically embedded approximately four feet deep in reinforced concrete, often below structural I-beams. A decision was made to develop remote survey devices ('pipe crawlers') that would allow SNPS to decontaminate and survey embedded piping within NRC free release limits. Pipe crawlers currently in use at SNPS are able to traverse multiple 45 and 90 degree bends while maintaining all detectors in the required geometry (less than 1 cm detector to surface distance). The following aspects of this project will be presented: 1) System classification and cost-benefit analysis 2) Overview of system decontamination 3) Pipe crawler mechanical and electrical development 4) Detector backgrounds and MDA's 5) Additional devices and techniques 6) NRC position on crawler use. 7) SNPS results to date. (author)