Measurement of Ballooning Gap Size of Irradiated Fuels Using Neutron Radiography Transfer Method and HV Image Filter

A transfer method of neutron radiography was developed to measure the size of the end plug and a gap of an intact K102L-2, the irradiated fuel of a ballooned K174L-3, a ballooned and ruptured K98L-3. A typical irradiation time of 25 min. was determined to obtain a film density of between 2 and 3 of SR X-ray film with neutrons of $1.5{\times}10^{11}n{\cdot}cm^{-2}$. To validate and calibrate the results, a RISO fuel standard sample, Cd plate and ASTM-BPI/SI were used. An activated latent image formed in the $100{\mu}m$ Dy foil was subsequently transferred in a dark room for more than 8 hours to the SR film which is a maximum of three half-lives. Due to the L/D ratio an unsharpness of $9.82-14{\mu}m$ and a magnification of 1.0003 were given. After digitizing an image of SR film, the ballooning gap of the plug was discernible by an H/V filter of image processing. The gap size of the ballooned element, K174L-3, is equal to or greater than 1.2 mm. The development of a transfer method played a pivotal role in developing high burn-up of Wolsung and PWR nuclear fuel type.