Year
1998
Abstract
A twin-bridge calorimeter using optical fiber as the sensor element was constructed and tested. This system demonstrates the principle and capability of using optical fibers for heat-flow measurements of special nuclear material. This calorimeter uses piezoelectric-generated phase-carrier modulation with subsequent electronic signal processing to allow phase shifts as small as 1 mrad to be measured. The sensing element consists of 21-m lengths of single-mode optical fiber wrapped around sample and reference chambers. The sensitivity of the calorimeter was determined to be 74 rad of phase shift per mW of thermal power. One milliwatt of thermal power is equivalent to 400 mg of plutonium (6% 240Pu). The system noise base was about 0.2 rad, equivalent to about 1 mg of plutonium.