Assessment of Cable Aging for Nuclear Power Plants I&C Cable via Time-Frequency Domain Reflectometry

Abstract

Instrumentation and control (I&C) cable connected between numerous sensors and main control room contributes to the safe operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Some of I&C cables are installed in the place exposed to cable degradation causes such as mechanical damage, heat, and radiation. In this paper, two cable aging assessment parameters extracted from the results of time-frequency domain reflectometry (TFDR) is proposed to maintain the reliable and stable operation of the NPPs. To verify the proposed method, two different EPR insulated cables from distinct manufactures are adopted to accelerated thermal aging test. After aging, the assessment parameters of each cable are calculated, and the trend and linearity of the assessment parameters are observed. It is expected that the proposed method allows to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plant.