CEMES – Thursday seminars – Active electron microscopy on Atalante at CEA Marcoule

The characterisation of radioactive materials implies working under specific safety, security and radioprotection conditions. In this context, the equipment used is nuclearised in order to work with equipment adapted to the different samples to be characterised (type of emission, dose rate, contaminant, etc.). A first part will present the various technological modifications carried out on three scanning electron microscopes in operation in the Atalante nuclear facility of the CEA in Marcoule. This part will show the complexities of using this type of equipment in an active environment (operation, maintenance). Secondly, examples of characterisations carried out on active samples at different stages of the fuel cycle will be presented: - in situ nano-compression of MOX fuel for castability in manufacturing processes - microstructures and EDS/WDS elemental analysis of sludge from the dismantling of a spent fuel recycling plant - microprobe, SEM and TEM characterisations of an industrial glass from high-level waste. To close this seminar, a last part will be devoted to the description of the project of nuclearisation of an active SEM-FIB in progress in the laboratory.