Design and Development of Compact, Durable Electromagnetic Pulse Power Coils for Repositioning of Coolant Tube Spacers in Candu Nuclear Reactors

In the fall of 1983, a novel electromagnetic technique to reposition the coolant tube spacers (garter springs) in the fuel channels of CANDU nuclear reactors was successfully developed at Ontario Hydro Research Division. This paper describes the design, development and performance of the compact solenoidal coils used to reposition the garter springs. The coils are capable of withstanding oscillatory current pulses havinig a first peak of 200 kA and can survive several thousand pulses at current levels exceeding 140 kA. The operating criteria and measures introduced to achieve long coil life with a reasonably high repetition rate for discharging the capacitor bank are also discussed.