NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

EMPIT provides a solution for remote inspection of pipelines buried in or outside nuclear power plant sites.

The safe production and transport of energy is more important than ever before. Lessons were learned, and today nuclear power plants are considered one of the key drivers of the green energy transition. Since most of the power plants were built in the 1970s and 1980s, the underground infrastructure within the power plants is aging.

Conventional in-line inspection (ILI) equipment, which requires direct access to the pipeline to assess its condition and map its position, usually cannot be used for the pipeline network inside the plants. In addition, in most cases it is not economically feasible to use in-line inspection tools for very short pipeline sections or branches that are often found in the plants. Consequently, an effective but easy-to-apply solution must be found to ensure the safe operation of the power plants for decades to come.

EMPIT has developed Current Magnetometry Inspection (CMI), which is an inspection method that allows to inspect buried pipelines remotely from the earth's surface. This is particularly practical for nuclear power plants, where the infrastructure is usually laid out in a complex manner. As no direct connection to or into the pipeline is needed, the on-site inspection can be executed with all pipelines in service. As a result, nuclear power plant operators now are equipped with a solution that can deliver up-to-date information about the pipeline condition, geolocation and the stress that lines are suffering due to external loads.