Vacuum Vessel Inspection

The vacuum boundary is inspected for leaks, surface condition, and penetration integrity during planned outages.

The vacuum vessel is inspected to catch leaks, surface degradation, and penetration wear before they force an unplanned shutdown. Because opening the vessel is costly — it breaks vacuum and requires re-pumping, bakeout, and conditioning — inspections are batched into planned outages and use non-invasive methods where possible.

What is inspected

• Field-joint and weld integrity
• Penetration seals for pumping, fueling, and diagnostics
• Interior surface condition and any deposition
• Radiation-streaming path controls at penetrations

Leak detection

Helium mass-spectrometer leak testing localizes leaks against acceptance limits. Continuous vacuum monitoring during operation flags a developing leak early, so inspection can target the suspect region rather than the whole boundary. Isolation valves let a region be checked without venting the entire vessel where the design allows.

Return to service

After any vacuum-breaking work, the region is pumped down, baked, and conditioned before operation resumes. Inspection intervals and methods are set at design stage against the frozen machine and refined with operating experience from the first test burner.