personnel access. Both mechanical strength and electrical performance will be affected by this extreme environment, leading to premature aging and eventually failure of equipment. Small Modular Reactors (SMR) and other newer reactors in development have exacting requirements, which makes the design of interconnect solutions even more challenging. Additionally, high temperatures and radiation can degrade components that initially meet these requirements. It is therefore of paramount importance to understand how each material ages under specific conditions, so that as its characteristics evolve, required performance is maintained throughout its expected life on the system. Insulating materials specifically designed to resist radiation and maintain guaranteed electrical performance should be employed in these designs. Although traditional radiation-resistant insulating materials tend to be very stiff, which makes the cables more difficult to install in the system, new innovative materials allow for a more flexible interconnect while maintaining very good radiation resistance.
Example of a flexible 1 kV Poliax insulated cable assembly terminated with an Axon’ Cable round connector. This cable assembly, which is designed to resist 6 MGy radiation, is used in the Atlas detector (CERN particle collider). The confined installation area requires flexible cable assemblies with compact connectors.
8
Powered by FlippingBook