Polar studies of the sphericity degree of V/HTR nuclear fuel particles

Advanced nuclear power reactor designs such as (Very) High Temperature Reactors (V/HTR) employ TRISO fuel particles that typically have a sub-millimetre U-based fuel kernel coated with three isotropic ceramic layers—a layer of silicon carbide sandwiched between pyrocarbon layers of different density. Evaluation of the ceramic layer thickness and of the degree of sphericity of these typical nuclear fuel particles is required at each step of the fabrication, in order to estimate future fuel performance under irradiation conditions. This study is based on the image processing of polished cross-sections, realized near the equatorial plane. From these 2D images, some measurements are carried out, giving an estimation of the diameter values for a sample of particles at each step of the coating process. These values are then statistically extended to the third dimension in order to obtain the thickness of each layer and the degree of sphericity of each particle. A representation of diameter and layer thickness in polar coordinates enables one to identify steps for which the coating process is defective or deviating from nominal objectives.