Sample preparation techniques for post irradiation examinations in the Reactor Fuel Examination Facility

Suzuki, Miho; Kimura, Yasuhiko; Takano, Masahide ; Mita, Naoaki

Reactor Fuel Examination Facility (RFEF) is one of the largest hot laboratories in Japan. In RFEF, several kinds of PIEs are performed to evaluate the safety and reliability of spent nuclear fuels, and the data from PIEs is provided to the customers such as nuclear researchers and fuel vendors. In these years, the requirements from our customers become more complicated and more accurate, so that the sample preparations such as cutting, holding or defueling prior to PIE itself must be improved to meet their requirements. In this report, several sample preparation techniques for PIEs are described.