INL Using Tech for Mammograms on Nuclear Fuel

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — Scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho are applying technology typically used for mammograms to examine nuclear fuel.

The Post Register reports that researchers at the nuclear facility about a year ago contacted Real Time Tomography.

The Pennsylvania-based company develops techniques for processing 2-D and 3-D medical images of solid objects. INL nuclear fuels engineer Dan Wachs says the method could save months of work and in some instances up to $100,000 per experiment.

He says researchers examine irradiated fuel by cutting small pieces from rods. He says using tomography will allow researchers to take a nondestructive look first.