Development of Radiographic Methods for the Qualification of Fuel Plates and Irradiation Targets for the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor

• Grant number: 25/10937-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2025
• End date: October 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Nuclear Engineering - Nuclear Fuel
• Principal Investigator: Michelangelo Durazzo
• Grantee: Michelangelo Durazzo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN). Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Econômico (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: São Paulo
• Associated researchers: Elita Fontenele Urano de Carvalho

Abstract

The Nuclear Fuel Center (CECON) of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN) will be responsible for the continuous supply of fuel to ensure the operation of the new radioisotope-producing research reactor, the Brazilian Multipurpose Reactor (RMB), in addition to supplying fuel for the operational IEA-R1 research reactor. To achieve this, IPEN's production capacity for this type of fuel must be increased from 15 to 70 fuel elements per year. Furthermore, IPEN will be responsible for producing the irradiation targets required to generate Mo-99 in the RMB through the nuclear fission of U-235. IPEN's Fuel Fabrication Facility was remodeled to provide a layout suitable for the increased production capacity and was inaugurated on August 30, 2023. However, to ensure this increased production capacity and greater reliability of the fuel manufactured at IPEN, certain qualification techniques must be improved, which has been carried out with support from FAPESP. This project proposes the enhancement of two important qualification techniques, which will be based on digital radiography and image analysis: the measurement of U-235 distribution within the core of the fuel plate, and the determination of the thickness of thin metallic uranium foils used in the fabrication of targets for Mo-99 production. The development and implementation of these new methods will be based on X-ray attenuation techniques, using industrial radiography equipment with an automatic image acquisition and processing system to generate high-resolution digital images, which is available at IPEN. For both qualification techniques under study, the project proposes the development of integrated and automated systems that are fast and efficient, delivering results with metrological reliability, demonstrated by the existence of a metrological traceability chain and by numerically quantifying the quality of the obtained results. (AU)