| 摘要 |
A method for sputtering coating the inside surface of a fuel assembly tubular component (10,200,400,700) with absorber material such as a burnable poison or getter. The steps include supporting the e.g., cladding tube (10) in a fixture (12,14) and supporting a source tube (100) of e.g., burnable poison material coaxially within the cladding tube, thereby defining a cylindrical annulus (24) between the tubes. The annular space is evacuated and backfilled with an inert working gas (26) such as argon, to a pressure sufficient to sustain a plasma discharge. The cladding tube is positively biased (36) as an anode, and the source tube is negatively biased (34) as a cathode, such that a plasma of the working gas is established in the annular space. A circumferential magnetic field is generated around the source tube to confine and shape the plasma whereby the source tube is bombarded with ions from the plasma substantially uniformly over the length of the source tube. Burnable poison material is thereby sputtered substantially uniformly from the source tube onto the inside surface of the cladding tube, to form a burnable poison coating thereon.
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