Transmission computer microtomography for nondestructive monitoring of fuel and control rods in a reactor

A method of x-ray transmission computer microtomography has been developed for solving the problems of monitoring the quality of fuel elements and control rods in nuclear reactors: the geometric resolution of a defect is several microns. The solution of the problem of nondestructive monitoring of such objects has made it possible to perform a wide range of investigations of the technical characteristics of definite x-ray detectors, organize principles of scanning, based on the principles of laser interferometry and the deign of data processing systems, that are different from those of conventional systems. The investigations performed have made it possible to implement computer-aided design for problem-oriented computer microtomographs and for the instrumental implementation of an experimental variant of such a device. Investigations performed on specially fabricated test samples with calibrated defects have demonstrated that the approach to the design of such setups for nondestructive monitoring of objects for nuclear power generation is correct and that this is a promising direction. 8 figures, 9 references.