International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2015)

Image Recognition of Instrumentation Panels in a Nuclear

Power Plant
Jai Wan Cho1, Kyung Min Jeong2
989-111 Daeduk-Daero, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-353, Korea
Each IC is equipped with enough capacity to cool the
reactor core. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the
National Diet & Civilian Accident Investigation Bureau of
Japan have raised some issues that require further
investigation (including the aforementioned IC problem).
These issues are being re-examined and investigated [4].
The Investigation Committee of the Accident Investigation
Bureau of the National Diet of Japan has determined that
the loss of IC function was due to the impact from the
massive earthquake. TEPCO claims that the IC system was
operating normally even after the massive earthquake, and
the loss of IC function was caused by the tsunami. The
operation problem of the IC system of reactor unit 1 was
the primary cause of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant accident escalating into a catastrophe. Once the
earthquake-induced tsunami settled down, the person on
duty in the main control room requested that the power
plant headquarters have to inspect the steam exhaust
visually in order to ensure the operation of the IC system.
For the onsite inspection of the IC water level, a MCR
operator went to the reactor building. However, the
operator withdrew from the building entrance because the
radiation level was unusually high. Nuclear emergency
robots were developed as countermeasures, provided for
accidents in the nuclear facilities in early 2001, following
the criticality accident of the JCO (uranium refinery
facility) at the Tokaimura, Japan in 1999. If these robots
had undergone continuous maintenance, repair, and design
enhancement, they could have been readily deployed to the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Based on the
technical specifications of these developed robotic systems
(JAEA RaBOT and MARS-A of Mitsubishi Heavy
Industry), these robots could have performed image
readings of the IC water level gauge located on the 4th
floor of the unit 1 reactor building [5],[6],[7]. Taking into
account the radiation exposure dose limit for nuclear
facility workers (100mSv / 5 years) and the radiation
hardness design feature of these robots developed after the
JCO criticality accident (10Sv/h x 2 h), these robots could
have adequately performed the task at hand in the
environment of the reactor building, which at that time had
a gamma ray dose rate of approximately 100 mSv/h.

AbstractInside a RCB (reactor containment building),

there are many various systems, structures, and components
for the safe operation of the reactor. We describe a
recognition method of onsite instrumentation gauges shown in
investigation images of the isolation condenser (IC) system of
the unit 1 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant in Japan. At first, we recognized the scales on the
instrumentation gauge using the geometric shape of the gauge.
And we could read the values of the instrumentation gauge by
calculating the slope of the indicator needle on the same
gauge. If a robot were to enter the reactor building instead of
a person owing to the risk of high radioactivity exposure (as in
the case of the Fukushima nuclear accident), the proposed
image recognition approach could be useful in reading the
onsite instrumentation gauges of the major systems,
structures, and components.
KeywordsImage Recognition, IC (Isolation Condenser),
Reactor Building, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant,
Water Level Gauge.

I. INTRODUCTION
Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) has
released investigation images of the isolation condenser
(IC) system located on the 4th floor of the unit 1 reactor
building of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
[1],[2]. An IC is an alternative core cooling system,
provided for the operation failure of an emergency core
cooling system (ECCS) when a severe accident (reactor
core meltdown) occurred. An ECCS consists of four trains
(the flow of reactor coolant is defined as train). Each train
is installed independently, and is fully capable of cooling
the reactor core with a one-pump start-up. The four
independent pumps that perform the ECCS function were
located 10 m underground at sea level. These four ECCS
pumps were all submerged under water and lost their
functions due to a common cause failure (CCF) - the
tsunami (15 m at sea level) that struck the Fukushima
Nuclear Plant [3]. In order to make up for the loss of core
cooling function as a result of losing the ECCS due to a
CCF, two trains of ICs are installed as a diverse core
cooling system that operates on a completely different
principle from the core cooling system that depends on a
pump start-up.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2015)
Assuming that a nuclear emergency robot is deployed in
a severe accident of the nuclear power plant, the image
reading using an observation camera on the robot is
important. We analyzed investigation videos from the unit
1 reactor building on the 4th floor released by TEPCO. We
inspected the four water level gauges that measure the
water level of the two trains of ICs, and the open/close
indicator of the valve that controls the IC flow. The water
level gauges and indicators were of the mechanical type,
with graduated lines and scales on a circular panel. The
water level gauge had a black needle. And the valve
indicator, which represents the degree of open (or close)
status of the valve, had a red needle.
We proposed an image processing technique to read an
instrumentation value of the water level gauge. A
geometrical shape of the mechanical-typed gauges (water
level and indicator) was used in the proposed image
processing technique. Using the proposed technique, we
deciphered instrumentation values of the four water level
gauges and indicators shown on the IC inspection video
released by TEPCO and Japanese Nuclear Regulatory
Commission of Japan.

Figure 1. A water level gauge of an Isolation Condenser (Train A)

II. ANALYSIS OF FUKUSHIMA UNIT 1 REACTOR IC VIDEO

TEPCO has released three videos related to the
investigation of the IC system located on the 4th floor of
the Fukushima Unit 1 Reactor Building. We analyzed two
of these videos that displayed the pathway from the
building entrance on the 1st floor, approaching the target
location on the 4th floor, from the viewpoint of a robot.
The first video was recorded on October 18, 2011. A video
recorded one year later (November 30, 2012) was released
subsequently. Based on frame-by-frame review of the
October video, it took 4 min for an operator to go from the
reactor building entrance to the location of the IC
instrumentation panel. Taking into consideration the
walking speed (6 km/h) of a person and the driving speed
(2 km/h) of a robot (JAEA RaBot and Mitsubishi Heavy
Industry MARS-A), if a robot had been deployed, it would
have taken 12 min. We assumed that full skill for the
operation of the robot system and the information about
access route and structures inside the reactor building, are
available through sufficient training. Figures 1 and 2 show
instrumentation panels located on the 4th floor of the unit 1
reactor building.

Figure 2 A valve status (opening and closing) indicator panel of the

Isolation Condenser

The unit 1 reactor building was littered with debris from

a hydrogen explosion due to the core meltdown; therefore,
it was not easy for a person to enter the reactor building. It
was a little difficult to understand the available information
since the released video was not recorded in a stable
position. We used relatively clear image, as shown in Fig.
1, for testing the proposed image processing technology to
read the indicator value of the instrumentation panel. This
is based on the assumption that the image quality would be
relatively good if a robot were to enter the reactor building
because the video recording of the systems, structures, and
components would be done remotely under stable
conditions.
III. RECOGNITION OF INSTRUMENTATION PANEL
As shown in Fig. 1, the instrumentation gauge of the IC
system is an analog type.

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2015)
The instrumentation gauge (water level) is graduated
with thin lines. In this paper, to read an indication value of
the analog-typed instrumentation (water level of the IC
system) panel, following assumptions were applied.
Supposition 1. A center point of the instrumentation gauge
is the center coordinates of an ellipse, represented
in a 2-D image plane acquired by CCD (or
CMOS) camera.
Supposition 2. The minimum and maximum scales of the
instrumentation gauge are positioned below the
center point of the circular (or elliptical) shaped
gauge image, in the vertical (Y-axis) direction.
Supposition 3. The minimum scale of the instrumentation
gauge is located on the minimum point of the
gauge image, in the horizontal (X-axis) direction
(leftmost side).
Supposition 4. The maximum scale of the instrumentation
gauge is located on the maximum point of the
gauge image, in the X-axis, namely positioned at
the rightmost side.
Supposition 5. The indicator needle of the instrumentation
gauge is positioned between the minimum and
maximum scale of the gauge.
Image processing sequences to read instrumentation
gauge, shown in Fig. 1, are divided into three parts. First,
central point of the gauge, mostly represented as an ellipse
in the 2-D image plane, is derived. Second, we look for the
minimum and maximum scales of the gauge. If the
minimum and maximum scales of the instrumentation
gauge are found, the full scale of the gauge is determined.
Third, a slope of the indicator needle of the instrumentation
gauge is extracted. The indication value of the
instrumentation gauge is calculated by the proportion of
scale of the indicator needle with respect to the full scale of
the instrumentation gauge.
In order to obtain the central point of the instrumentation
gauge, a ROI (region-of-interest) of the gauge is extracted
through the pre-processing sequence such as segmentation
(threshold) process. And the contour of the gauge region is
derived from the segmentation image. Then, the extracted
contour coordinates are fitted onto an ellipse. In the
supposition 1, we assumed that the central point of the
ellipse is the central point of the instrumentation gauge.
Generally, if the aspect ratio between the long axis and the
short axis of an ellipse is 1, then the ellipse is observed as a
true circle.

However, if the instrumentation gauge is observed at a

certain angle by the camera, a true circle typed shape of the
instrumentation gauge is viewed as an ellipse pattern in the
2-D image plane. And the aspect ratio will be less than 1.0.
This is shown in Fig. 3. Figure 3 shows the central point of
the instrumentation gauge (IC system water level meter,
shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 3, the central point coordinates of
the ellipse are (384, 143) and the aspect ratio is 0.92.

Figure 3 Extraction of central point of the elliptical-shaped water level

gauge, shown in Fig. 1.

In this paper, to extract a region of scale of the

instrumentation gauge and an area of indicator needle of
the gauge, donut-shaped masks are used. A donut mask is
created with a fixed width in reference to the central point
of the obtained ellipse (see Fig. 3). By subtracting this
donut-shaped mask from the segmentation image
(separation gauge area from the background) of the gauge
image, shown in Fig. 1, the scale area and the indicator
needle region are extracted. Then, line segments are drawn
connecting the scales to the central point of the elliptical
panel, as shown in Fig. 3. The slopes and locations of these
line segments are calculated. Using suppositions 1, 2, 3,
and 4, the minimum and maximum scale coordinates can
easily be extracted. This is shown in Fig. 4.
We assume that the scales of the instrumentation gauge
are evenly distributed. Among the scales, the most
important scales are the minimum scale (i.e., the least
significant scale (LSS)) and the maximum scale (i.e., the
maximum significant scale (MSS)). The minimum and
maximum scales are indicated with dotted circles in Fig. 4.
In Fig. 4, the angles of the minimum scale segment and
maximum scale segment, each connected to the central
point of the ellipse, fall within the valid measurement range
of the instrumentation gauge.

304

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2015)
And MSS is the slope of the line segment that connects
the central point of the ellipse and the MSS (most
significant scale as a maximum scale) point.
A needle position,

needle , designated as Needle Pos

shown in the left side of Fig. 5 is the slope of the indicator

needle line, extracted by line-fitting process. An angle of
the indicator needle is 127.17 degree. A real indicator
angle of the instrumentation gauge,

needlescale ,

is given

by Eq. (3).
Figure 4. Minimum and maximum scale of the instrumentation gauge.

needlescale LSS needle

(3)

needlescale 31 .82 127 .17 158 .99

(4)

A real indication value of the instrumentation gauge,

GuessNeedle , designated as Guess Needle shown in the

left side of Fig. 5, is based on Eqs. (1) and (3), and can be
obtained as follows:

Figure 5. Recognition result of the water level meter, shown in Fig. 1

GuessNeedle

needlescale
fullscale

(5)

GuessNeedle

158 .99
65 .2 %
243 .86

(6)

Figures 6-7 show the recognition results of the

instrumentation gauges calculated by the proposed image
processing techniques.

Also, using supposition 5, a ROI (region of interest) of

indicator needle can be easily extracted, and a slope (angle)
of the needle can be calculated by using a line fitting
process. An indication value of the instrumentation gauge
can be obtained from the ratio between the full
measurement range (angle) of the gauge and the slope
(angle) of the indicator needle, as shown in Fig. 4. A
recognition result of the IC water level gauge is shown in
Fig 5. A full measurement range of the instrumentation
gauge, fullscale
, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, can be obtained
as follows.

fullscale LSS MSS

(1)

fullscale 31 .82 32 .04 180 243 .86

(2)
Figure 6. Image recognition result of the IC (defined as Train 1 for
convenience) water level gauge, channel B.

In Eq. (1), LSS is a slope (angle) of the line segment

that connects the central point of the ellipse and the LSS
(least significant scale as a minimum scale) point.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2015)
The onsite instrumentation gauges were analog types.
We were able to recognize the scales on the instrumentation
gauges using their geometrical shape, and estimate the
indication values of the instrumentation panels by
calculating the slope of the indicator needle. If assumed
that nuclear emergency response robot system should enter
the reactor building to mitigate (or manage) an abnormal
(severe) accident in the nuclear power plant, the proposed
image recognition approach could be useful in reading onsite instrumentation gauges of the SSC (systems, structures,
and components) located inside the reactor building under
high radioactivity exposure environments.
REFERENCES
[1]
Figure 7. Image recognition result of the IC (Train 1) water level
gauge, channel A.

The image recognition results of the water level gauges

from the IC videos released by TEPCO in October 2011 are
shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In May 2013, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission of Japan independently conducted
an investigation of the IC system, located at 4th floor in the
unit 1 reactor building of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant. Based on the released data (PDF) related to this
investigation, the IC water level meter data was converted
to an image, and the recognition result by proposed image
processing technique is shown in Fig. 7. A slight increase
in the water level of the IC (Train 1) can be seen by
comparing Figs. 5 (investigated in October 2011) and Fig.
7 (investigated in May 2013).

[2]

[3]
[4]

[5]

[6]

IV. CONCLUSION
We described the image recognition of instrumentation
gauge of the IC system from the investigation images of the
unit 1 reactor building at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant, as released by TEPCO in Japan.

[7]

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