Employing antineutrino detectors to safeguard future nuclear reactors from diversions

The Non-Proliferation Treaty and other non-proliferation agreements are in place worldwide to ensure that nuclear material and facilities are used only for peaceful purposes. Antineutrino detectors, sensitive to reactor power and fuel changes, can complement the tools already at the disposal of inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2019-08, Vol.10 (1), p.3527-10, Article 3527
Main Authors: Stewart, Christopher, Abou-Jaoude, Abdalla, Erickson, Anna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/4077/4091/4093
706/4066/4076
Antineutrino monitoring
Detectors
Divergence
Diversion
energy policy
GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
Humanities and Social Sciences
multidisciplinary
nonproliferation
Nuclear energy
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear facilities
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
Nuclear fuels
nuclear fusion and fission
Nuclear reactors
Reactor design
reactor diversion
Reactors
safeguards
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Security
Sensors
Sodium
Sodium cooled reactors
Uranium
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Summary:The Non-Proliferation Treaty and other non-proliferation agreements are in place worldwide to ensure that nuclear material and facilities are used only for peaceful purposes. Antineutrino detectors, sensitive to reactor power and fuel changes, can complement the tools already at the disposal of international agencies to safeguard nuclear facilities and to verify the States’ compliance with the agreements. Recent advancement in these detectors has made it possible to leverage them to reduce the likelihood of an undetected diversion of irradiated nuclear material. Here we show the sensitivity of antineutrino monitors to fuel divergence from two reactor types: a traditional light-water reactor and an advanced sodium-cooled reactor design, a likely candidate for future deployment. The analysis demonstrates that a variety of potential diversion scenarios can be detected by such a system. We outline recent developments in monitoring capabilities and discuss their potential security implications to the international community. Nuclear reactors can be used for energy generation or for dangerous weapons and therefore their monitoring is crucial. Here the authors discuss detecting antineutrino from a nuclear reactor and use it for nuclear safeguards in a diversion scenario.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-11434-z