skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Development of an advanced antineutrino detector for reactor monitoring

Journal Article · · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
  3. Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL), Limited, Chalk River, ON (Canada)
+ Show Author Affiliations

We present the development of a compact antineutrino detector for the purpose of nuclear reactor monitoring, improving upon a previously successful design. Our paper will describe the design improvements of the detector which increases the antineutrino detection efficiency threefold over the previous effort. There are two main design improvements over previous generations of detectors for nuclear reactor monitoring: dual-ended optical readout and single volume detection mass. The dual-ended optical readout eliminates the need for fiducialization and increases the uniformity of the detector's optical response. The containment of the detection mass in a single active volume provides more target mass per detector footprint, a key design criteria for operating within a nuclear power plant. This technology could allow for real-time monitoring of the evolution of a nuclear reactor core, independent of reactor operator declarations of fuel inventories, and may be of interest to the safeguards community.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; AC04-94AL85000; SAND2014-15109O; AC5-07NA27344; LLNL-JRNL-655279
OSTI ID:
1376037
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1246471
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-655279; PII: S0168900214011693
Journal Information:
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 771, Issue C; ISSN 0168-9002
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (8)

Geant4—a simulation toolkit
  • Agostinelli, S.; Allison, J.; Amako, K.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 506, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(03)01368-8
journal July 2003
Monitoring the thermal power of nuclear reactors with a prototype cubic meter antineutrino detector journal April 2008
Nuclear reactor safeguards and monitoring with antineutrino detectors journal April 2002
Experimental results from an antineutrino detector for cooperative monitoring of nuclear reactors
  • Bowden, N. S.; Bernstein, A.; Allen, M.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 572, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2006.12.015
journal March 2007
Observation of the isotopic evolution of pressurized water reactor fuel using an antineutrino detector journal March 2009
Antineutrino Monitoring for Heavy Water Reactors journal July 2014
Development of a Gd loaded liquid scintillator for electron anti-neutrino spectroscopy
  • Piepke, Andreas G.; Moser, S. Wayne; Novikov, Vladimir M.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 432, Issue 2-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(99)00530-6
journal August 1999
Large-scale gadolinium-doped water Cherenkov detector for nonproliferation
  • Sweany, M.; Bernstein, A.; Bowden, N. S.
  • Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 654, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2011.06.049
journal October 2011

Similar Records

Scalability of Gadolinium-Doped-Water Cherenkov Detectors for Nuclear Nonproliferation
Journal Article · Thu Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Physical Review Applied · OSTI ID:1376037
+1 more
Development of 17N as a time-tagged neutron source for calibration of large antineutrino detectors
Journal Article · Thu Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Section A, Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment · OSTI ID:1376037
+1 more
Remote safeguards and monitoring of reactors with antineutrinos.
Conference · Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · OSTI ID:1376037

Related Subjects

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
SAFEGUARDS AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS