Nondestructive Evaluation of Uranium-Plutonium Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel elements by Gamma Autoradiography
Nondestructive evaluation of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide fuel elements is an important step ensuring the quality of the fuel encapsulated. Gamma Autoradiography (GAR) is used to extract information of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in welded fuel elements. In this technique, radiation emitted by the fuel is captured on Xray film kept in a cassette. Gamma autoradiographs reveal both qualitative and quantitative useful information about MOX fuel. Composition of MOX fuel in the welded fuel element is monitored by gamma autoradiography. Presence of plutonium rich agglomerates in the periphery of the pellets is also detected. Gamma autoradiography has been used at Advanced Fuel Fabrication facility, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Tarapur for non destructive evaluation of MOX fuel pins for various types of reactors. MOX fuel pins containing pellets of three different composition (0.9%, 1.55%and 3.25% of PuO2) were irradiated in Boiling Water Reactors. Gamma autoradiography was used to monitor the composition, detection of wrong loading of pellets and presence of plutonium rich agglomerates lying in outer region of the pellets.The technique was successfully used in our facility for monitoring the compositional variation of MOX stack of nominal composition of 0.4% PuO2. Gamma autoradiography was used as nondestructive evaluation technique for fuel elements for fast reactors also. Pellets of higher PuO2 content are used in fast reactors. The technique has been applied for fuel elements with PuO2 loading of 21%, 28%, 30% and 44% of PuO2. This paper introduces the technique of gamma autoradiography, describes application of the technique for nondestructive evaluation of MOX fuel elements for both thermal and fast reactors containing PuO2 content varying from 0.4% to 44% and the results of the experiments carried out for nondestructive characterisation of the fuel elements.
Gamma autoradiography Plutonium MOX Nuclear fuel Nondestructiveevaluation reactors.
Jose.P. PANAKKAL Dipanker. MUKHERJEE H.S.KAMATH
Advanced Fuel fabrication Facility ,Bhabha Atomic Research centre,Tarapur, Maharashtra, India
国际会议
第十七届世界无损检测会议(17th World Conference on Nondestructive Testing)
上海
英文
3823-3831
2008-10-25（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）