Nondestructive measurement of the coating thickness for simulated TRISO-coated fuel particles by using phase contrast X-ray radiography

The TRISO-coated fuel particle for a HTGR (high temperature gas-cooled reactor) is composed of a nuclear fuel kernel and outer coating layers. The coating layers consist of a buffer PyC (pyrolytic carbon) layer, an inner PyC (I-PyC) layer, a SiC layer, and an outer PyC (O-PyC) layer. X-ray radiography is one of the nondestructive alternatives to measure a coating thickness without generating a radioactive waste. Phase contrast X-ray radiography technology is more powerful for acquiring a radiograph with clear boundaries, when compared with a conventional X-ray radiography. The contrast can be enhanced for weakly absorbing materials in a phase contrast X-ray radiograph by detecting an intensity variation due to the variation of a phase of the X-rays in the boundary between two objects. Phase contrast X-ray radiograph was acquired from a simulated TRISO-coated fuel particle with a micro-focus X-ray imaging system. The coating thickness was nondestructively measured from the phase contrast X-ray image for the fuel particle.