SBIR/STTR Award attributes
There is a critical need for a high-frame-rate radiation-hard video camera in the re-emerging field of nuclear- heated transient testing. According to our rigorous research and discussions with leading researchers in this field, a high-frame-rate camera hardened to the radiation environments present in these test scenarios do not exist. The proposed camera can thus enable completely new, important area of research in the field of nuclear energy. Alphacore’s novel camera will benefit the experiments in TREAT, VTR and ATR reactors at the Idaho National Laboratories. Alphacore, Inc. is developing a high-frame rate video sensor and camera that can operate in high-temperature, high-pressure and high-radiation environments. Alphacore’s proposed camera has a target resolution of 1280x720 pixels and a frame-rate of 4000 fps, and will be hardened to the TID level of 1Grad(Si), as well as neutron fluence of 1017 n/cm2. The image sensor meets the temperature and radiation tolerance requirements of the Department of Energy (DOE), and will consist of a control board that also meets environmental requirements. The proposed CMOS camera will better equip nuclear power systems to detect and manage faults in instrumentation and control (I&C) systems and plant components. In Phase I, Alphacore developed a camera design that achieves three goals that normally are counteractive to each other: high frame rate, radiation hardness, and low cost. In the proposed Phase II program, Alphacore will optimize the Phase I design into a prototype and then fabricate and test it. The full camera system includes the image sensor with on-chip power management and data transmission functionality, a rad-hard 125ft cable and a non-hardened FPGA-based system that captures the data at the other end of the cable Alphacore’s camera has the combined frame-rate and radiation tolerance needed for emerging fast neutron experiments and for next-generation synchrotron experiments with X-rays exceeding energy levels of 15keV; there are currently up to 18 upgrades planned worldwide. The nuclear power plant industry stands to benefit greatly from this innovation as well, where there is a strong need for solid-state image sensor-based cameras hardened to at least 100Mrad(Si) in nuclear facilities inspection applications. Alphacore’s rad-hard video camera is more commercially feasible than the cathode ray tube (CRT) cameras currently used in this industry.
