2001/08/01 by Adam Bernstein, A. Bernstein, Y. Wang +5 · 5 citations
Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Neutrino Physics Research #Radiation Detection and Scintillator Technologies #Radioactive contamination and transfer #nucl-ex
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.1452775
16 pages, PDF, including 3 figures
arxiv created 2001/08/01 · openalex publication_date 2002/04/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Cubic-meter-sized antineutrino detectors can be used to non intrusively, robustly, and automatically monitor and safeguard a wide variety of nuclear reactor types, including power reactors, research reactors, and plutonium production reactors. Since the antineutrino spectra and relative yields of fissioning isotopes depend on the isotopic composition of the core, changes in composition can be observed without ever directly accessing the core itself. Information from a modest-sized antineutrino detector, coupled with the well-understood principles that govern the core’s evolution in time, can be used to determine whether the reactor is being operated in an illegitimate way. A group at Sandia is currently constructing a 1 m3 antineutrino detector at the San Onofre reactor site in California to demonstrate these principles.