Critical assessment of the pore size distribution in the rim region of high burnup UO2 fuels

A new methodology is introduced to analyse porosity data in the high burnup structure. Image analysis is coupled with the adaptive kernel density estimator to obtain a detailed characterisation of the pore size distribution, without a-priori assumption on the functional form of the distribution. Subsequently, stereological analysis is carried out. The method shows advantages compared to the classical approach based on the histogram in terms of detail in the description and accuracy within the experimental limits. Results are compared to the approximation of a log-normal distribution. In the investigated local burnup range (80-200 GWd/tHM), the agreement of the two approaches is satisfactory. From the obtained total pore density and mean pore diameter as a function of local burnup, pore coarsening is observed starting from ≈100 GWd/tHM, in agreement with a previous investigation.