METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING LEAK TIGHTNESS OF FUEL ELEMENTS

摘要

The invention relates to the nuclear power industry and more particularly to technologies for controlling leak tightness of fuel elements at the stage of production thereof as well as to the creation of fully automated control equipment. The inventive method of controlling fuel elements comprises the following steps: placing the items of interest in a chamber linked to a leak detector; creating a vacuum inside such chamber; connecting the leak detector; and recording signals emitted by the latter. The leak tightness of the items of interest is judged according to signals exceeding a background value. According to the inventive method, abutted fuel elements are continually moved along the axis thereof and sequentially pass through areas where there is a gradual drop in residual pressure, through the control chamber connected to the mass spectrometry leak detector and through areas where there is a gradual rise in residual pressure.