Neutron Radiography of Fuel Pins

Neutron radiography performed with a reactor source has been shown to be a superior radiographic method for the examination of unirradiated mixed oxide fuel pins at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory. Approximately 1700 fuel pins were contained in a sample that demonstrated the capability of the method for detecting laminations, structural flaws, fissile density variation, hydrogenous inclusions, and voids in assembled fuel pins.

The nature, extent, and importance of the detected conditions are substantiated by gamma autoradiography and by destructive analysis employing alpha autoradiography, electron microprobe, and visual inspection. Also, a series of radiographs illustrate the response of neutron radiography as compared to low-voltage and high-voltage X-ray and gamma source iridium-192 radiography.