Neutron-induced opalescence in silica glass

Abstract: Light scattering intensity distribution along the optical fiber length is analyzed, which was measured by optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) during and after fiber irradiation in a nuclear reactor. The OTDR traces prove to contain two components associated with either radiation-induced attenuation (RIA), or with Rayleigh scattering coefficient (RSC) variation. The RSC increase effect in the first stage of fast-neutron irradiation is argued to be similar to the anomalous scattering buildup near the critical point of the liquid-vapor transition known as critical opalescence. For his reason, the RSC increase due to fast-neutron irradiation can be named neutron-induced opalescence (NIO).