[en] Atucha-1 NPP is a Siemens-KWU designed PHWR which started its operation in June 1974 and has accumulated up to December 2010 around 26 fpy, that mean a load factor of above 72%. It began its operation with natural uranium fuel and since 1995 the core has been converted to SEU (0.85% enriched). Moreover, in the recent years CNEA Fuel Engineering Branch has developed a programme to increase the U mass, involving a new structural design of the fuel element (FE), in order to achieve a higher burnup and to reduce the frequency of daily on-line refueling.On the other hand, this type of reactor design involves the use of coolant channels (CC) which interact strongly with the FEs. The original CCs had to be replaced when signs of degradation were noticed at about 10.4 fpy. The new CCs have an improved design and are made of zircaloy-4 with enhanced oxidation and mechanical properties. According to these needs a number of activities were planned for the follow-up and periodic control of the FEs and CCs in service. This presentation describes the poolside facilities used to perform visual inspection and dimensional measurements as well as the contribution of these results to both programs. (author)