NDE BENEFITS FROM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Advanced nondestructive evaluation systems that apply artificial intelligence principles are providing reliable results and increasing user confidence in NDE testing of nuclear power plant components. The new systems bring the techniques of pattern recognition, scene analysis, and robotics to bear on NDE problems associated with making component inspections under the severe environmental conditions that prevail in many plant areas. By relying on remote scanners and other computer-directed devices, NDE inspections can be performed more thoroughly and accurately than heretofore possible; personnel exposures to radiation, high temperatures, and other stress-inducing factors are reduced sharply.