Condition Assessment of I&C Cables in Nuclear Power Plants via Stepped-Frequency Waveform Reflectometry

A nuclear power plant (NPP) depends on instrumentation and control (I&C) systems to ensure its safe and efficient operation. In particular, I&C cables take on the pivotal role of measuring and controlling the critical equipment of the NPP. Thus, it is indubitable that the diagnostic technology of I&C cables for detecting faults and accurately assessing their health status is required for ensuring the safety and reliability of the NPP operation. We propose a diagnostic method that combines fault detection and evaluation algorithm for the I&C cables with stepped-frequency waveform reflectometry with signal propagation and reflection modeling. The signal modeling allows the assessment of the fault with an estimated reflection coefficient by separating the propagation and reflection effects of the measured signal. In short, cable faults are differentiated and quantified regardless of distance. The proposed algorithm is verified by characteristic impedance measurement, various fault detection/evaluation experiments, and the fault evaluation of local accelerated thermal aging cable.