Machining specialist Hydratight says it has become the first company to use EDM for maintenance work on a live nuclear reactor pipeline system.
The company completed the technically challenging campaign for a major energy company at a US power station as part of post-Fukushima upgrades.

Using EDM avoided an expensive unplanned shutdown of the reactor, and took 48 hours off the reactor outage schedule.
The process used a heated solid electrode to cut a hole (featuring 0.05 mm tolerance) within the reactor feed water line. Microscopic cuttings were then removed using back-flushing and vacuums. Hydratight’s process prevented 99.5% of foreign material exclusion particles, such as drill cuttings and debris, from entering the reactor.
Mike Riordan, Hydratight’s nuclear speciality services manager, says: “This was a milestone achievement on a live nuclear reactor pipeline system, and resulted in safety enhancements in line with the industry’s post-Fukushima requirements. The work has created another way to feed water into the main line if there is ever a power loss to the reactor.”
The line had water pressure of 8.3 bar and electrical conductance exceeding 3,500 micro-siemens. Hydratight’s speciality services deployed customised tooling to negotiate a 380 mm long, 25 mm wide pipe as an entry point to reach the spot where the 19 mm EDM penetration was to take place.
“Material contaminations are a major concern for most facilities, and EDM is a highly accurate and safe way of machining,” says Riordan. “Tool pressure was also a concern on this particular project, so we were able to use a method which was completely contactless.”
Hydratight has offered its services to the nuclear and power-generation industries for more than 30 years.
For further information www.hydratight.com

In choosing Esprit to write programs for its CNC wire EDM machines and grinders, Dallas-based MCC Tooling found a CAM system so user friendly that the owner’s young grandchildren sometimes use it. More importantly, Esprit’s programming is saving MCC Tooling time and money.

MCC Tooling makes and re-sharpens custom cutting tools, step drills, form tools and dovetail cutters, in quantities ranging from one-off to as many as 100 pieces, for customers in the oil, aerospace and medical industries. The 10-employee business today has a number of machine tools that include a Mitsubishi MV1200-R wire
EDM with B axis.
MCC Tooling began using Esprit in 1999, when it purchased its first wire EDM machine, a Mitsubishi FX 10.
“After hours of extensive research and vetting different programs and software, we felt Esprit would fit our needs and price range perfectly,” says the company’s founder Marcus Alexander. “Esprit is user-friendly, works seamlessly with our machines, and integrates well with SolidWorks. It’s so easy that my grandchildren have come here and programmed their own things for us to cut out for them.”
The software also allowed the company to get up to speed with the Mitsubishi MV1200-R, which was installed in 2013 to hold closer tolerances.
“One thing that helped us was being able to see the heads moving on the simulation in Esprit before running it on the EDM,” says Alexander. “This ensures we don’t waste time running an incorrect part and saves us money by not scrapping components.”
For further information www.espritcam.com