Reactor Antineutrino Detector Research Articles

Calibration strategy of the PROSPECT-II detector with external and intrinsic sources

This paper presents an energy calibration scheme for an upgraded reactor antineutrino detector for the Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment (PROSPECT). The PROSPECT collaboration is preparing an upgraded detector, PROSPECT-II (P-II), to advance capabilities for the investigation of fundamental neutrino physics, fission processes and associated reactor neutrino flux, and nuclear security applications. P-II will expand the statistical power of the original PROSPECT (P-I) dataset by at least an order of magnitude. The new design builds uponprevious P-I design and focuses on improving the detector robustness and long-term stability to enable multi-year operation at one or more sites. The new design optimizes the fiducial volume by elimination of dead space previously occupied by internal calibration channels, which in turn necessitates the external deployment. In this paper, we describe a calibration strategy for P-II. The expected performance of externally deployed calibration sources is evaluated using P-I data and a well-benchmarked simulation package by varying detector segmentation configurations in the analysis. The proposed external calibration scheme delivers a compatible energy scale model and achieves comparable performance with the inclusion of an additional AmBe neutron source, in comparison to the previous internal arrangement. Most importantly, the estimated uncertainty contribution from the external energy scale calibration model meets the precision requirements of the P-II experiment.

Nuclear reactor monitoring with gadolinium-loaded plastic scintillator modules

In this study, simulation-based design and optimization studies of a gadolinium-loaded segmented plastic scintillator detector are presented for monitoring applications of nuclear reactors in Turkey using antineutrinos. For the first time in the literature, a multivariate analysis technique is introduced to suppress cosmic background for such a reactor antineutrino detector.

A reactor antineutrino detector based on hexagonal scintillator bars

This study presents a new concept of segmented antineutrino detector based on hexagonal plastic scintillator bars for detecting antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor core. The choice of hexagonal scintillator bars is original and provides compactness. The proposed detector detects antineutrinos via inverse beta decay (IBD) with the prompt-delayed double coincidence. Owing to its segmented structure, the background, which satisfies the delayed coincidence condition can be eliminated by applying proper event selection cuts. In this manner, the main focus is to determine proper selection criteria to precisely tag the true IBD events. Monte-Carlo simulation is carried out to understand the characteristic of the IBD interaction in the proposed detector by using Geant4 toolkit. A set of event selection criteria is established based on the simulated data. It is found that a detection efficiency of 10% can be achieved with the selection condition applied. It is also shown that fast neutrons, which constitute the main background source for above-ground detection, can be effectively eliminated with these selection criteria. The motivation for this study is to install this compact detector at a short distance (<100 m) from the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, which is expected to start operation in 2023.

Comparison of plastic antineutrino detector designs in the context of near field reactor monitoring

We compare existing segmented plastic antineutrino detectors with our new geometrically improved design for antineutrino detection and light collection efficiency. The purpose of this study is to determine the most suitable design style for remote reactor monitoring in the context of nuclear safeguards. Using Monte Carlo based GEANT4 simulation package, we perform detector simulation based on two prominent experiments: Plastic antineutrino detector array (Panda) and Core monitoring by reactor antineutrino detector (Cormorad). In addition to these two well-known designs, another concept, the Panda2, can be obtained by making a small variation of Panda detector, is also considered in the simulation. The results show that the light collection efficiency of the Cormorad is substantially less with respect to the other two detectors while the highest antineutrino detection efficiency is achieved with the Cormorad and Panda2. Furthermore, as an alternative to these design choices, which are composed of an array of identical rectangular-shaped modules, we propose to combine regular hexagonal-shaped modules which minimizes the surface area of the whole detector and consequently reduces the number of optical readout channels considerably. With this approach, it is possible to obtain a detector configuration with a slightly higher detection efficiency with respect to the Panda design and a better energy resolution detector compared to the Cormorad design.

Cинтез и испытания 1 m-=SUP=-3-=/SUP=- жидкого сцинтиллятора на основе линейного алкилбензола

AbstractThe stability of a liquid organic scintillator based on linear alkylbenzene in a volume of 1 m^3 was measured. The measurements were performed using an iDREAM reactor antineutrino detector at the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute. No systemic degradation of the scintillator light yield within an observation time of 225 days was observed. These long-term stability measurements of a large-volume liquid organic scintillator based on linear alkylbenzene are the first in Russia.

Synthesis and Tests of a 1-m3 Scintillator Based on Linear Alkylbenzene

The stability of a liquid organic scintillator based on linear alkylbenzene in a volume of 1 m3 was measured. The measurements were performed using an iDREAM reactor antineutrino detector at the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute. No systemic degradation of the scintillator light yield within an observation time of 225 days was observed. These long-term stability measurements of a large-volume liquid organic scintillator based on linear alkylbenzene are the first in Russia.

Reactor antineutrino detector iDREAM

The prototype of an industrial reactor antineutrino detector iDREAM is constructed to demonstrate the capability of real-time remote monitoring of PWR operation by the neutrino method.

Data acquisition system for segmented reactor antineutrino detector

This paper describes the data acquisition system used for data readout from the PMT channels of a segmented detector of reactor antineutrinos with active shielding. Theoretical approach to the data acquisition is described and two possible solutions using QDCs and digitizers are discussed. Also described are the results of the DAQ performance during routine data taking operation of DANSS. DANSS (Detector of the reactor AntiNeutrino based on Solid Scintillator) is a project aiming to measure a spectrum of reactor antineutrinos using inverse beta decay (IBD) in a plastic scintillator. The detector is located close to an industrial nuclear reactor core and is covered by passive and active shielding. It is expected to have about 15000 IBD interactions per day. Light from the detector is sensed by PMT and SiPM.

IDREAM: an industrial detector for nuclear reactor monitoring

Prototype of industrial reactor antineutrino detector iDREAM is dedicated for an experiment to demonstrate the possibility of remote monitoring of PWR reactor operational modes by neutrino method in real-time in order to avoid undeclared exposure modes for nuclear fuel and unauthorized removal of isotopes. The prototype detector was started up in 2014. To test the detector elements and components of electronics distilled water has been used as a target, which enables the use of Cerenkov radiation from cosmic muons as a physical signal. Also parallel measuring of the long-term stability has been doing for samples of liquid organic scintillator doped with gadolinium and synthesized by different methods

Monte Carlo simulation of the Neutrino-4 experiment

Monte Carlo simulation of the two-section reactor antineutrino detector of the Neutrino-4 experiment is carried out. The scintillation-type detector is based on the inverse beta-decay reaction. The antineutrino is recorded by two successive signals from the positron and the neutron. The simulation of the detector sections and the active shielding is performed. As a result of the simulation, the distributions of photomultiplier signals from the positron and the neutron are obtained. The efficiency of the detector depending on the signal recording thresholds is calculated.

Reactor antineutrino monitoring with a plastic scintillator array as a new safeguards method

We developed a segmented reactor-antineutrino detector made of plastic scintillators for application as a tool in nuclear safeguards inspection and performed mostly unmanned field operations at a commercial power plant reactor. At a position outside the reactor building, we measured the difference in reactor antineutrino flux above the ground when the reactor was active and inactive.

Registration of reactor neutrinos with the highly segmented plastic scintillator detector DANSSino

DANSSino is a simplified pilot version of a solid-state detector of reactor antineutrino (it is being created within the DANSS project and will be installed close to an industrial nuclear power reactor). Numerous tests performed under a 3 GWth reactor of the Kalinin NPP at a distance of 11 m from the core demonstrate operability of the chosen design and reveal the main sources of the background. In spite of its small size (20 × 20 × 100 cm3), the pilot detector turned out to be quite sensitive to reactor neutrinos, detecting about 70 IBD events per day with the signal-to-background ratio about unity.

Reactor antineutrino oscillations and gadolinium loaded Super-Kamiokande detector

We explore the potential of measuring the solar neutrino oscillation parameters in the proposed gadolinium loaded Super-Kamiokande (SK-Gd) detector. Gadolinium dissolved in water can detect neutrons much more efficiently than pure water. This imparts the detector the ability to observe electron type antineutrinos, transforming Super-Kamiokande into a huge reactor antineutrino detector with an event rate approximately 43 times higher than that observed in KamLAND. We simulate the reactor antineutrino data expected in this high statistics detector. We use these prospective data to study the precision with which the solar neutrino oscillation parameters, Δm2⊙ and sin2θ⊙, can be determined (i) with the SK-Gd detector, and (ii) by combining the SK-Gd data with the global data on solar neutrino oscillations. For comparison and completeness the allowed regions of Δm2⊙ and sin2θ⊙, expected to be obtained from the data of the solar neutrino and KamLAND experiments, are also presented. We find that the SK-Gd experiment could provide one of the most precise (if not the most precise) determination of the solar neutrino oscillation parameters Δm2⊙ and sin2θ⊙.