High Frequency Transducer Dedicated to the High-resolution in Situ Measurement of the Distance between Two Nuclear Fuel Plates

Most high flux reactors for research purposes have fuel elements composed of plates and not pencils. The measure of inter-plate distance of a fuel element is tricky since a resolution of a micron is searched to measure plate swellings of about ten microns while the dimension between the plates is close to the millimeter. This measure should provide information about the fuel and particularly its history of irradiation. That is the reason why a solution has been considered: a robust device based upon high frequency ultrasonic probes adapted to the high radiation environment and thinned to 1 mm to be inserted into a 1.8 mm width water channel between two fuel plates. To achieve the expected resolution, the system is excited with frequencies up to 150 MHz. Thanks to a specific signal processing, this device allows the distance measurement through an ultrasonic wave's time of flight. The feasibility of such challenging distance measurement has already been proved with success on a full size irradiated fuel element of the RHF.