NUCLEAR FUEL INSPECTION METHOD Russian patent published in 2000 - IPC

FIELD: manufacture of pelletized nuclear fuel for reactor fuel elements. SUBSTANCE: physical, ceramic, and sintering properties of fuel are additionally checked in source powder to determine design value of complete specific surface area , powder mixture index is calculated, mixing quality is checked by degree of uniformity of binder distribution taking at least three samples and checking them for carbon content; compression is checked by preliminary inspection of equipment for precision and stability using a precision formula for the purpose. In addition, hydrogen humidity within furnace is checked and adjusted in the course of sintering the pellets, the latter are checked for roughness in the course of their grinding, ready pellets are checked for mean size of pores; inspection results are entered in computer-aided process control system and data base is used to solve problem of stabilizing quality of half- finished products using dispersion analysis method along with solving the problem of optimizing finished product quality. Humidity in sintering furnace is controlled by bubbling hydrogen supplied therein through water layer. EFFECT: reduced quantity of rejected pellets, improved yield. 2 cl, 1 dwg