Design, development and field testing of Cecil

Inspection and cleaning of the secondary side of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) steam generator should be performed on a regular basis to prevent the degradation and early replacement of this equipment due to corrosion. Corrosion products, or sludge, settle in the secondary side of the steam generator and promote corrosion of the tube bundle. The CECIL robot was developed to improve inspection and cleaning of the secondary side of a steam generator. This paper describes the evolution in design of the CECIL robot. The design, development and field testing of the robot at India Point 2 nuclear station are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the fourth generation of its design, CECIL-4. The importance of iteration in design, test, fabrication and field application of mobile robots in a nuclear power station is discussed.