Study of the Influence of Heat Sources on the Out-of-Pile Calibration Curve of Calorimetric Cells Used for Nuclear Energy Deposition Quantification

In the field of nuclear research, the measurement and knowledge of nuclear heating are of crucial importance to carry out accurate studies of the accelerated ageing of materials and the behavior of nuclear fuels under irradiation with precisely imposed temperature conditions. Nuclear heating can be quantified with a differential calorimeter by using in-pile temperature measurements and the preliminary out-of-pile calibration curves of each calorimetric cell. This paper focuses on experimental studies of two new calorimetric cell prototypes developed to test the influence of the Joule effect heating of specific cell body areas on the out-of-pile-calibration curves. The calibration curves are determined, discussed for different applied internal/external thermal conditions, and compared to irradiation data obtained with the CARMEN-1P type calorimeter used in the OSIRIS reflector.