Nuclear fuel pellet surface defect inspection apparatus

This paper describes an apparatus for inspecting nuclear fuel pellets for surface defects and having an inspection chamber, a pellet guide chute assembly extending through the inspection chamber. It comprises: a support substrate composed of a pair of elongated wall sections each having a pair of opposite spaced longitudinal edges. The wall sections being rigidly attached together along adjacent ones of the longitudinal edges to form a corner and being angularly displaced from one another at remote ones of the longitudinal edges to have a generally V-shaped configuration in cross section; a pair of elongated plates respectively disposed on upper adjacent sides of the support substrate wall sections; and means for adjustably attaching the plates to the wall sections for sliding movement thereon toward and away from the adjacent longitudinal edges thereof to locate the plates at desired stationary positions thereon for supporting nuclear fuel pellets of different diameters between and on adjacent longitudinal portions of the plates located in the inspection chamber of the apparatus