Disassembly and sampling of graphite ball fuel elements

摘要

In the scope of the THTR postirradiation examination program, irradiated ball-type fuel elements must be examined and prepared for advanced experiments. This requires a controlled breaking-open of the graphite shell for taking samples of definite size and dimensions from the inner and outer parts of the fuel element. In the present report are described two special pieces of equipment which have been developed and constructed for this purpose. They emphasize avoiding contaminationof the neighbouring equipment of the box, and diminishing the inevitable cross-contamination of the surfaces of the samples themselves by means of a suitableventilation procedure.