Thick films acoustic sensors devoted to Material Testing Reactor environment measurements

The development of advanced instrumentation for in-pile experiments in Material Testing Reactor (MTR) constitutes a main goal for the improvement of the nuclear fuel behavior knowledge. An acoustic method for fission gas release detection was tested with success during a first experiment called REMORA 3 in 2010 and 2011, and the results were used to differentiate helium and fission gas release kinetics under transient operating conditions. The maximal temperature on the sensor during the irradiation was about 150 °C. In this paper we present a thick film transducer produce by screen printing process. The screen printing of piezoelectric offers a wide range of possible applications for the development of acoustic sensors and piezoelectric structure for measurements in high temperature environment.