Standardization News

A new ASTM International standard serves as a guide to help experts examine nuclear-fuel pellets, cylindrical ceramic parts that are inserted into fuel rods for use in nuclear reactors.

According to ASTM International member Gregoire Toury, an AREVA advisory engineer in MOX, ceramographic examination of these pellets is crucial for verifying product quality relative to thermo-mechanical behavior and fission gas release during irradiation.

“This guide describes how to prepare the pellet for the examination,” says Toury. “The following step will be to propose a standard practice that will describe the different techniques and procedures for analyzing a pellet’s microstructure.”

These standards will help ensure that microstructural characteristics of nuclear-fuel pellets meet fuel specifications relative to performance in reactors.

The standard (soon to be published as C1868) was developed by the ASTM International committee on nuclear fuel cycle (C26).

For more news on ASTM International standards for nuclear energy, visit ASTM Energy Standards Helping to Power Our Lives.