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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Fibre optic cables are widely used as communication cables in Instrumentation and Control (I&C) systems. In the case of nuclear power plants (NPPs), using optic cables in mild environments outside of containment areas are very common. However, at present, there is a need for fibre optic cables to be used in containment areas, i.e., with radiation. An optical fibre consists of a highly transparent core that possesses a higher refractive index than the surrounding transparent cladding, which possesses a lower refractive index. Most optical fibres are manufactured from glass (silica with required dopants) which is created at high temperatures from the reaction between gasses. The glass used in optical fibres is sensitive; it becomes dark during exposure to radiation, which compromises the optic functions. That is why there has been a slow infiltration of optic cable in NPP containment areas. Radiation resistant optic fibres have been developed. Although these fibres are called “radiation resistant,” they go through a darkening process (absorbance increase) as well, but not as quickly. Immediately after the irradiation has stopped, a recovery process starts in the glass structure. During this period, optical losses of the glass improve, but not to the original level as before the irradiation. During the testing of optic cables for the installation in nuclear power plant containment areas, we observed an unusual recovery process. In the beginning, a healing effect was observed. However, after a few days of recovery, the healing process stopped, and the trend changed again as a worsening of the optical properties was observed. This paper describes experiments which explain the reasons for such an unexpected behaviour.

Details

Title
Influence of Optic Cable Construction Parts on Recovery Process after Gamma Irradiation
Author
Šaršounová, Zuzana 1 ; Plaček, Vít 2 ; Prajzler, Václav 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Masopustová, Kateřina 3 ; Havránek, Petr 2 

 ÚJV Řež, a. s., Hlavní 130, Řež, 250 68 Husinec, Czech Republic; [email protected] (Z.Š.); [email protected] (P.H.); Department of Electrotechnology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague, Czech Republic 
 ÚJV Řež, a. s., Hlavní 130, Řež, 250 68 Husinec, Czech Republic; [email protected] (Z.Š.); [email protected] (P.H.) 
 Department of Microelectronics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague, Czech Republic; [email protected] (V.P.); [email protected] (K.M.) 
First page
599
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19961073
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2621282824
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.