(INTRODUCTION) The characterisation and evaluation of large and/or high density objects with X-ray computed tomography (CT) requires high energy X-ray sources especially electron linear accelerators (LINAC) with energies between 2 and 12 MeV. The decrease of linear attenuation coefficient with increasing energy reduces the necessary dynamic range of detector system as well as the number of artifacts both belonging to the main problems in CT today. Actually the following applications are well suited for using high energy tomography:
- geometrical analysis of complex parts for rapid prototyping (e.g. cylinder heads, CAD, FEM, Stereolithography)
- structure evaluation and detection of defects (e.g. tires)
- characterisation of waste containers (e.g. HLW canisters, crack evaluation)
The last mentioned application were discussed together with some details of the developed detector and collimator system.
(CONCLUSION) A full set of tomographic images of a glass block were measured and together with the planned leach testing experiments which should confirm the values for the accessible surface area a non-destructive method to characterize HLW glass blocks is expected.
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