Method for measuring the anisotropy in an element comprising at least one fissile material and a corresponding installation

1. A method for measuring anisotropy of a zone of a surface of an element comprising at least one fissile material, the method comprising:

transmitting a beam of light onto the surface; and

passing the beam of light reflected by the surface into a polarisation analyser having a modifiable analysis direction, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the beam from the polarisation analyser to a device for acquiring digital images,

acquiring a first digital image of the zone of the surface of the element with a first analysis direction of the polarisation analyser,

acquiring a second digital image of the zone of the surface of the element with a second analysis direction of the polarisation analyzer, and

processing the first digital image and the second digital image acquired in order to measure the anisotropy by dividing, pixel by pixel, the first digital image by the second digital image in order to form a cartographic image of measurements of the anisotropy of the zone.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the beam transmitted is a beam of non-polarised light.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the element is a particle of nuclear fuel for a high temperature reactor.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first analysis direction and the second analysis direction are substantially perpendicular.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mean of the values of the pixels is calculated in at least one window of the cartographic image.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the element having been at least partially produced by deposition of material in a deposition direction, the first analysis direction is substantially perpendicular to the deposition direction adjacent to the zone.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the window corresponds to a region of the surface which has a surface-area greater than 30 μm2.

8. An installation which comprises:

a light source configured to transmit a beam of light onto a surface of an element comprising at least one fissile material,

a polarisation analyser having a modifiable analysis direction and configured to be passed through by the beam of light reflected by the surface,

a device configured to acquire digital images and to receive the reflected beam of light after said reflected beam of light has passed into the polarisation analyser, and thereby configured to acquire a first digital image of a zone of the surface of the element with a first analysis direction of the polarisation analyser and to acquire a second digital image of the zone of the surface of the element with a second analysis direction of the polarisation analyser, and

a unit configured to process the first digital image and the second digital image acquired and to measure the anisotropy by dividing, pixel by pixel, the first digital image by the second digital image to form a cartographic image of measurements of the anisotropy of the zone.

9. An Installation according to claim 8 , wherein the device configured to acquire digital images is a charge transfer camera.

10. A method for measuring anisotropy of a zone of a surface of an element comprising at least one fissile material, the method comprising:

transmitting a beam of light onto the surface; and

passing the beam of light reflected by the surface into a polarisation analyser having a modifiable analysis direction, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the beam from the polarisation analyser to a device for acquiring digital images,

rotating the analysis direction of the polarisation analyser through 360° about a propagation direction of the beam of light reflected, while at the same time acquiring digital images of the zone of the surface of the element, and

processing the digital images acquired in order to measure the anisotropy, by:

establishing, for each pixel, the maximum and minimum values obtained during the rotation of the analysis direction, and

forming a cartographic image of measurements of the anisotropy with, as a value for each pixel, a ratio of the maximum value relative to the minimum value established.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the beam transmitted is a beam of non-polarised light.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the element is a particle of nuclear fuel for a high temperature reactor.

13. An installation which comprises:

a light source configured to transmit a beam of light onto a surface of an element comprising at least one fissile material,

a polarisation analyser having a modifiable analysis direction and configured to be passed through by the beam of light reflected by the surface,

a device configured to acquire digital images and to receive the reflected beam of light after said reflected beam of light has passed into the polarisation analyser, and thereby configured to acquire digital images of a zone of the surface of the element while at the same time the analysis direction of the polarisation analyser is rotated through 360° about a propagation direction of the beam of light reflected, and

a unit configured to process the digital images acquired and to measure anisotropy by:

establishing, for each pixel, maximum and minimum values obtained during the rotation of the analysis direction, and

forming a cartographic image of measurements of the anisotropy with, as a value for each pixel, a ratio of the maximum value relative to the minimum value established.

14. The Installation according to claim 13 , wherein the device configured to acquire digital images is a charge transfer camera.