Techniques for Quality Inspection of Coated Fuel Particles

Abstract
Various techniques have been developed for the quality inspection of coated fuel particles. The present report summarizes these techniques, which include random sampling of particles by two-stage sampling, measurement of kernel diameter and coating thickness by metallography and X-ray microradiography, determination of density by Hg displacement, m-xylene pycnometry and sink-float technique, determination of the crystallite orientation of pyrolytic carbon, assessment of uranium contamination by α-counting, fluorescence analysis and fission track counting, determination of the C/Si ratio of SiC layer by chlorination, and measurement of the crushing strength of particles. Quality evaluation based on statistical treatment of the data is also described briefly.