Team uses muography to create 3D image of reactor : Waste & Recycling - World Nuclear News

Researchers at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) have used muons - cosmic particles - to remotely and non-invasively create a 3D image of the G2 reactor at Marcoule, France, which is undergoing decommissioning.

Muon tracking devices detect and track these particles as they pass through objects.

"In the Micromegas detector, we use a noble gas, because it has good properties that allow these ionisations to be preserved and therefore the passage of muons to be detected," Procureur said.

"We asked the teams if it was possible to adapt this type of acquisition to structures such as our reactors, which are very massive and not very accessible".

"Despite its complexity and large dimensions, the reactor could be imaged in a relatively short time, with reasonably good-quality reconstruction being achieved with only a few days in each projection," the researchers said.

They added: "These conclusions open up new perspectives for the inspection and monitoring of nuclear sites over their entire operating lifetime as in their decommissioning phase, thus contributing to nuclear safety."