Evaluation of pebble scanning strategies for fuel qualification by simple simulated radiography

Journal Article · 27 August 2021 · Nuclear Engineering and Design

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111418 · OSTI ID:1886519

Helmreich, Grant W.  ^[1]; Brown, Daniel R. ^[2]; Blamer, Brandon J. ^[2]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
2. X-Energy LLC, Rockville, MD (United States)

Reactor designs using tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) particles in pebble fuel forms have been developed in multiple programs and are now being designed and deployed by several companies around the world. Fuel pebbles for these designs commonly contain an inner fueled zone packed with TRISO particles and a fuel-free zone on the surface of the pebble to protect the particles within. Therefore, qualification of pebbles for use in a reactor commonly requires determination that there are no TRISO particles within a given minimum distance to the pebble surface. This determination may be made non-destructively by pebble radiography, in which a series of x-ray projections of the pebble are acquired. In this work, a method to create and image representative digital pebbles was developed to allow for rapid testing of various pebble radiography strategies to evaluate their effectiveness in detecting escapee particles. Using this method, imaging strategies in two and three dimensions were tested with fixed and adaptive angular distributions. Here it was found that an adaptive two-dimensional pebble scanning strategy was the most effective for fuel pebble qualification.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1886519
• Journal Information: Nuclear Engineering and Design, Journal Name: Nuclear Engineering and Design Vol. 383; ISSN 0029-5493
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English