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ABSTRACT
Aging mechanisms can lead to degradation of electric cables and resultant failures of critical functions, as
well as losses of essential information for the decision-making process. Consequently, it would be highly
desirable to have a single universally effective prognostic, diagnostic technique that can be used in situ to
monitor the condition and predict the remaining useful life of installed electric cables of all types, in
operating nuclear power plant applications and environments.
To address this issue, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Nuclear Regulatory
Research (RES), in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Boeing Company,
initiated a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of the broadband impedance spectroscopy (BIS)
technique for use in nuclear power plant cable diagnostics and condition monitoring. The results demonstrate
the effectiveness of this nonintrusive, nondestructive technique, which uses low-voltage signals at varying
frequencies to scan the length of an installed cable system to locate anomalies and degradation. Based
upon this study’s promising results, RES is considering follow-on collaborative research to demonstrate
the effectiveness of the BIS technique in operating nuclear power plant environments.
