PLANT FOR AUTOMATIC RADIOISOTOPE EVALUATION OF FUEL PELLET DENSITY AND FOR SORTING OUT FUEL PELLETS Russian patent published in 2008 - IPC G01N9/24 

FIELD: nuclear engineering; non-destructive inspections in nuclear fuel (pelletized fuel) production.

SUBSTANCE: proposed plant has collimator provided with radiation blocker; one of shafts of pellet revolving mechanism is coupled with rotating air cylinder; pellet piece-by-piece feed unit has feeder in the form of set of rotary and fixed bowls, one of the latter carrying rigidly fixed agitator. Dust collecting unit communicates with air cleaning system; hold-down device is made in the form of top and bottom movable hold-down arresters; bottom hold-down arrester has concave member in the form of pellet bed; top hold-down arrester is made in the form of roller secured for displacement in direction perpendicular to pellet axis of revolution. Metering station is connected to sorting unit incorporating tubular channel communicating with air cylinder; plant is provided with shielding chamber; controlling and recording equipment is disposed in separate rack.

EFFECT: enhanced measurement accuracy, operating reliability, and environmental friendliness in pellet manufacture.

1 cl, 4 dwg