Preparation and performance of burnup and material studies on fuel assemblies and elements from the Rheinsberg nuclear power plant

A review is given of methods and facilities developed for studying burnup and canning materials of fuel assemblies and elements of the Rheinsberg nuclear power plant. Starting from the knowledge of the operating state of the fuel elements, necessary in view of economical and safe operation, the selection of the methods is elucidated. In detail, methods have been developed for the following studies: 1) nondestructive determination of fission product concentrations and burnup of the fuel assemblies and elements, 2) chemical and mass-spectrometric analyses of fuel samples aimed at determining burnup and isotopic composition of the fuel component, 3) nondestructive inspection of the fuel elements as well as metallographic examination and determination of mechanical strength of fuel can samples to characterize the state of the fuel element canning material. On the basis of the results obtained from investigations of fuel assemblies and fuel elements from the Rheinsberg nuclear power plant the performance of the proposed methods is demonstrated. (author)