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Abstract: Gamma radiation-induced optical absorption in 75SiO2–22Na2O–3CaO (wt.%) multi-component glass and in the same glass additionally doped with 0.05wt.% CeO2 has been studied, with irradiations performed at 70, 200, and 350°C, 25kGy/h up to a dose of 0.6MGy. For the undoped glass irradiation at 70°C produces strong optical absorption from 700nm down to the UV. Irradiation at 200°C gives a lower level of optical absorption with a similar band composition. No induced optical absorption has been detected after irradiation at 350°C. Annealing at 200°C for 24h completely suppresses the induced optical absorption. Introduction of cerium increases the level of induced absorption in the UV range for irradiation at 70°C, and also creates bands stable up to 350°C. The results show that silica and sapphire, which are considered as main candidate materials for ITER diagnostic windows and other optical components, can potentially be complemented with multi-component silicate glasses. These materials may allow one to control the radioluminescence, and in addition provide a range of refractive indices required for achromatic lenses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reports the characterization of two scintillating materials in powder form, Gadox and YVO embedded in a light-activated resin, used in a probe developed for oncological brachytherapy in-vivo dosimetry. The materials were characterized in terms of internal absorption, scintillation decay time, and light yield. The measurement of the optical characteristics highlighted a significant internal absorption at the scintillation light wavelength, with values of 6.5 dB/mm for Gadox and 14.1 dB/mm for YVO. Measurements of the characteristics scintillation time and of the light yield were performed with a novel method based on single photon counting, profiting from the long decay time of the materials under study. Measurements have been complemented by a two-step simulation with Geant4 to study the energy deposition followed by a ZEMAX OpticStudio® ray tracing to estimate the light collection efficiency. The decay time for scintillating materials were measured to be τ G a d o x = (458 ± 3 ± 3) μ s and τ Y V O = (451 ± 8 ± 3) μ s and the estimated values of the light yield are (7.1 ± 0.5) × 104 photon/MeV for Gadox and (4.8 ± 0.5) × 104 photon/MeV for YVO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-core temperature measurements are crucial to assess the condition of nuclear reactor components. The sensors that measure temperature must respond adequately in order, for example, to actuate safety systems that will mitigate the consequences of an undesired temperature excursion and to prevent component failure. This issue is exacerbated in new reactor designs that use liquid metals, such as for example a molten lead-bismuth eutectic, as coolant. Unlike water cooled reactors that need to operate at high pressure to raise the boiling point of water, liquid metal cooled reactors can operate at high temperatures whilst keeping the pressure at lower levels. In this paper we demonstrate the use of optical fibre sensors to measure the temperature distribution in a lead-bismuth eutectic cooled installation and we derive functional input e.g. the temperature control system or other systems that rely on accurate temperature actuation. This first-of-a-kind experiment demonstrates the potential of optical fibre based instrumentation in these environments. We focus on measuring the surface temperature of the individual fuel rods in the fuel assembly, but the technique can also be applied to other components or sections of the installation. We show that these surface temperatures can be experimentally measured with limited intervention on the fuel pin owing to the small geometry and fundamental properties of the optical fibres. The unique properties of the fibre sensors allowed acquiring the surface temperatures with a resolution of 30 mK. With these sensors, we assess the condition of the test section containing the fuel assembly during different steps of the operation of the facility, including the heating and verification of the vacuum of the loop as well as the filling and draining of the LBE loop. We also identify a simulated electrical shut-down and heating circuit failure in the primed installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow-induced vibration of nuclear reactor fuel pins can result in mechanical noise and lead to failure of the reactor's fuel assembly. This problem can be exacerbated in the new generation of liquid heavy metal fast reactors that use a much denser and more viscous coolant in the reactor core. An investigation of the flow-induced vibration in these particular conditions is therefore essential. In this paper, we describe an analysis technique to evaluate flow-induced vibration of nuclear reactor fuel pins subjected to a turbulent axial flow of heavy metal. We deal with a single fuel pin mockup designed for the lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE) cooled MYRRHA reactor which is subjected to similar flow conditions as in the reactor core. Our analysis is based on operational modal analysis (OMA) techniques. We show that the accuracy and precision of our OMA technique is higher compared to traditional methods and that it allows evaluating the evolution of modal parameters in operational conditions. We also demonstrate the possible onset of a fluid-elastic instability by tracking the modal parameters with increasing flow velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We evaluate six different vibration sensing techniques. [•] We compare the SNR and R 2 of the response signal of the sensors. [•] The amplitudes were up to 60m at a frequency of 8.5Hz. [•] The optical techniques and the MEMS-type accelerometer prove superior. [•] Considering the constraints, we believe that the FBG are our best option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Near UV-visible absorption coefficients of an erbium-doped optical fiber were investigated through an original technique based on a transverse cw UV-laser irradiation operating at 244nm. Such irradiation leads to the generation of a quite intense guided luminescence signal in near UV spectral range. This photoluminescence probe source combined with a longitudinal translation of the fiber sample (at a constant velocity) along the UV-laser irradiation, presents several major advantages: (i) we bypass and avoid the procedures classically used to study the radiation induced attenuation which are not adapted to our case mainly because the samples present a very strong absorption with significant difficulties due to the injection of adequate UV-light levels in a small fiber diameter; (ii) the influence of the laser irradiation on the host matrix of the optical fiber is directly correlated to the evolution of the generated photoluminescence signal and (iii) in our experimental conditions, short fiber sample lengths (typically 20–30cm) suffice to determine the associated absorption coefficients over the entire studied spectral domain. The generated photoluminescence signal is also used to characterize the absorption of the erbium ions in the same wavelength range with no cut-back method needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Diagnostic components and heating and current drive systems will be used within the vacuum vessel of the future fusion reactors, and especially in ITER. They will have to withstand harsh conditions in terms of neutron and gamma radiations, temperatures, applied voltages and vacuum. In order to study the degradation phenomena of the insulation and window materials and to qualify prototype systems, a representative environment must be available to perform reliable evaluation tests. A multi-purpose irradiation facility has been therefore designed to fit the BR2 experimental fission reactor in Mol, Belgium. This reloadable facility allows a full control of the irradiation conditions (up to 1014ncm−2 s−1 and 500°C) in a vacuum or inert atmosphere, with in-situ bias and measurement capabilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We report on the radiation assessment of hydrogenated aluminium coated 200μm pure silica core fibres. It is experimentally demonstrated that hydrogen protected the fibres against the radiation-induced absorption. With such appropriate hydrogen treatment the fibres can survive the ITER radiation environment in the vicinity of the labyrinth region of the tokamak reactor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the course of the development of a concept for a spectrally resolving thermography diagnostic for the ITER divertor using optical fibres experimental development work has been carried out in three different areas. Firstly ZrF4 fibres and hollow fibres (silica capillaries with internal AG/AgJ coating) were tested in a Co60 irradiation facility under γ irradiation up to doses of 5kGy and 27kGy, respectively. The ZrF4 fibres suffered more radiation induced degradation (>1db/m) then the hollow fibres (0–0.4db/m). Secondly multi-colour pyroreflectometry is being developed towards tokamak applicability. The emissivity and temperature of tungsten samples were measured in the range of 700–1500°C. The angular working range for off normal observation of the method was 20–30°. The working distance of the method has been be increased from cm to the m range. Finally, encouraging preliminary results have been obtained concerning the application of pulsed and modulated active thermography. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Several single mode silica-based fibers with different levels of erbium concentrations have been tested under 60Co gamma radiation. Irradiation has been performed at a dose-rate of ∼30Gy/h to a total dose of ∼2kGy. Transmission spectra were measured in situ in a spectral range from 1250 to 1630nm. The measurements show no detectable change in the Er-ions luminescence and absorption spectrum profiles, while a significant (∼dB/m/kGy at 1530nm) increase in transmission losses is attributed to the silica host matrix modifications. This conclusion is drawn based on the post-irradiation photo-luminescence analyzes realized with a confocal micro-spectrometer (514.5nm excitation, P ∼2mW). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We studied the efficiency of a hydrogen-treatment in different pure silica core fibres irradiated by γ-ray in an attempt to decrease the radiation-induced absorption (RIA). It is observed that the effect of hydrogen already reduces the drawing-induced band commonly observed in low-OH fibres. During irradiation we observe a large increase of the radiation-induced OH growth with a corresponding significant reduction of the radiation-induced absorption at 0.63μm. The presence of hydrogen also reduces the transient radiation-induced absorption at 0.7μm sometimes observed in low-OH/low-chlorine fibres and believed to pertain to self-trapped holes (STHs). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We propose a kinetic approach to the decomposition of the radiation-induced absorption spectra into individual Gaussian absorption bands. It is based on the correlated analysis of a series of induced absorption spectra obtained in the course of multi-step irradiation and during room temperature long-term post-radiation annealing. The methodology is demonstrated using data on Co60 gamma irradiated samples of commercial boro-silicate glass N-BK7 from SCHOTT. We show that physically meaningful spectroscopic parameters of absorption bands can be obtained without a priori knowledge of the band peak position and bandwidth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigated pulsed-X-ray-induced attenuation in two pure-silica-core (PSC) optical fibers with low-chloride (Cl) and different hydroxyl (OH) contents. We measured at room temperature the temporal (100ms–1000s) and spectral (0.73–3.1eV) variation of the induced optical absorption after a 1MeV X-ray pulse in both low- and high-OH PSC multi-mode fiber samples. A component of the transient loss in the low-OH sample was found to comprise absorption bands at 1.63 and 1.88eV (760 and 660nm) arising from self-trapped holes (STHs). Already known to be unstable at room temperature, STHs appear to play a key role in the transient responses of low-OH/low-Cl pure-silica-core fibers in the visible/near-infrared part of the spectrum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Radiation hardness assurance for ITER is based on extensive radiation testing. To be representative, these tests must involve an in situ follow-up of the radiation induced changes. SCK·CEN—the Belgian Nuclear Research Center is operating different irradiation facilities with broad possibilities of environmental control and on-line instrumentation. We describe those facilities and outline several recently completed and on-going experiments to illustrate capabilities for testing under conditions relevant for ITER. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper addresses the particular need to develop suitable fabrication techniques of glasses to improve the radiation-resistance and extend the lifetime of optical fibres in high radiation background. Two radiation hardening techniques based on hydrogen and fluorine doping of glass have been applied on step index pure silica core optical fibres. The radiation-induced optical absorption and luminescence have been measured in gamma and fission reactor irradiation conditions at SCKCEN, Mol Belgium. The experimental results show that the lowest optical absorption is achieved in the hydrogen-treated fibre sample. However, the luminescence effect remains significant in any type of fibre and cannot be reduced by the investigated radiation hardening techniques. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The future International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) requires remote handling tools for its maintenance that will operate in a harsh environment. The numerous instrumentation cables for this maintenance equipment call for (de)multiplexing solutions, in order to reduce the umbilical size. Fibre-optic data links, using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, are seriously considered as a radiation tolerant solution, offering wavelength encoded multiplexing possibilities. However, an adapted modus operandi for a reliable assessment of this evolving technology is needed, to enable their long-term implementation in a radiation environment. In this paper, we present a methodology towards qualification methods for these instrumentation data links, and illustrate it with results obtained for different individual components. These results should enable the future design of robust architectures for communication links. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]