Abstract
In this paper, test measurements of a fibered optically stimulated luminescent dosimeter (OSLD) system performed during a dedicated experimental phase in EOLE zero-power reactor are presented. The measurement setup consists of an OSLD crystal connected onto the extremity of an optical fiber and a laser stimulation system, manufactured by the CEA/LIST, Saclay, France. The OSL sensor is remotely stimulated via an optical fiber using a diode-pumped solid-state laser. The OSL light is collected and guided back along the same fiber to a photomultiplier tube through appropriate optical filters. OSL signals are corrected for background noise and integrated to provide the absorbed doses thanks to calibration coefficients. The light stimulation also fully bleaches the crystal (reusable for the next measurement). Results obtained using this system are compared to usual gamma-heating measurement protocol using OSLD pellets. Both measurement processes were calibrated to ensure the comparison of absolute doses in gray at the same positions in the core. The presence of induced radioluminescence in the OSLD during the irradiation was also observed and could be used to monitor the gamma flux. The feasibility of remote measurements is achieved, whereas further developments could be conducted to improve this technique since the readout procedure still requires to withdraw the OSLD off the gamma flux (hence from the core) on account of the dose rate (around a few Gy $\cdot \text{h}^{\mathrm {\mathbf {-1}}}$ ), and the readout time remains quite long for online applications. Several improvements are foreseen and will be tested in the forthcoming years.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONT HE accurate determination of nuclear heating in materials is a major issue for the development of nuclear technology and in particular the design of new core concepts, such as the Jules Horowitz material testing reactor [1]
T HE accurate determination of nuclear heating in materials is a major issue for the development of nuclear technology and in particular the design of new core concepts, such as the Jules Horowitz material testing reactor [1].In material testing reactors the neutron and gamma flux levels allow to measure directly the nuclear heating by calorimetry based techniques for instance
The main drawback of nuclear heating measurement in low-power reactors remains the off-line gamma heating estimation, given that both thermo-luminescent dosimetry (TLD) and optically stimulated luminescent dosimetry (OSLD) stimulations allowing the readout of the absorbed doses can only be performed after irradiation and out of core
Summary
T HE accurate determination of nuclear heating in materials is a major issue for the development of nuclear technology and in particular the design of new core concepts, such as the Jules Horowitz material testing reactor [1]. In material testing reactors the neutron and gamma flux levels allow to measure directly the nuclear heating by calorimetry based techniques for instance. The main drawback of nuclear heating measurement in low-power reactors remains the off-line gamma heating estimation, given that both TLD and OSLD stimulations (thermal and optical respectively) allowing the readout of the absorbed doses can only be performed after irradiation and out of core. To circumvent this disadvantage, an effort is being made on the development of in situ and on-line measurement of the gamma heating. In the second section are presented the results of test measurements performed in the EOLE reactor
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