Non destructive testing of medium and high voltage cables with a transportable radiography system

A power cable is the most important part in a power transmission system. The cables must be total quality dedicated and certified for development, manufacturing and installation, however are exposed to a corrosive environment. The purpose of this paper is to show that the fast neutron radiography with a transportable system is a solution to find defects in the cables and reduce the cost of inspection. The design, regarding the materials considered, was compatible with the European Union Directive on “Restriction of Hazardous Substances” (RoHS) 2002/95/EC, hence excluding the use of cadmium and lead. Wide width values for the collimator ratio were calculated. With suitable collimator design it was possibly to optimize the neutron radiography parameters. Finally the shielding design was examined closely. The proposed system has been simulated using the MCNPX code.