[en] For High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor in China, coated fuel particles are bonded into spherical fuel elements by graphite matrix. In conjunction with the development of a system to determine fuel failure fractions through γ-analysis of individual and undamaged fuel particles, an automated spherical fuel element deconsolidation (SFED) system was developed in this study to separate the particles from graphite matrix by disintegrating the matrix into fine graphite powder, based on the anodic oxidation of graphite in an electrolyte containing nitric acid. The apparatus in this work contains electrolyzing cell, rotator, anode, Pt cathode and HNO₃ electrolyte, DC electrolytic power supply and control system based on the anodic oxidation. During the deconsolidation, the spherical fuel element is treated by DC power in electrolyte, and the graphite matrix is intercalated, oxidized and integrated to powder. Afterwards, the mixture of electrolyte and graphite powder is treated by vacuum filtration, and coated fuel particles are sampled from outside to inside in sequence. This system is compact, easy to operate and remote monitoring. Also, the position information can be maintained during the deconsolidation treatment, not only in favor of coated fuel particle breakage research and analysis of fission products in PIE, but also avoiding cross contamination among different samples. (author)