SUCCESS STORY: Empowering nuclear research with a CAMECA EPMA at CEA Cadarache

The CEA Cadarache facilities in southeastern France represent Europe’s largest energy research and development center. Scientists there wield a powerful array of analytical instruments to study the behavior of nuclear power plant materials. Areas of investigation include nuclear accident simulation and analysis; evolution of fission products; and impacts on microstructure and chemical composition.

One key instrument: the SX100-R electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) from CAMECA. A forerunner to CAMECA’s current shielded EPMA solution, the even more advanced SKAPHIA, the SX100-R combines powerful wavelength-dispersive spectrometers (WDS) with secondary electron/backscatter electron (SE/BSE) detectors, plus an optical microscope — all with full hot cell construction and shielding. So researchers can apply this formidable microprobe’s high spatial resolution and sensitivity, matched by its low detection limits, to conduct a variety of nuclear fuel investigations.

This short report provides more details on what the CEA Cadarache scientists found in one study — concerning the impact on fuel pellets of the oxidation/reduction potential of high-temperature atmospheres generated during accident simulations. The SX-100 R was able to precisely map and measure elemental concentrations at and below the sample’s surface.

What mysteries could a CAMECA EPMA focus on in your application?