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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 2: Nuclear Safeguards

AGA 2.1: Talk

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 17:00–17:30, PTB HS HvHB

Antineutrino-based Safeguards for the Monitoring of Spent Nuclear Fuel — •Yan-Jie Schnellbach¹, Thomas Radermacher¹, Irmgard Niemeyer², Stefan Roth¹, and Malte Göttsche¹ — ¹Physics Institute III B, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany — ²Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany

Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is an inevitable by-product of nuclear power generation and must be safeguarded. These safeguards are also required during the operation of storage facilities, which is expected to continue for decades to centuries. Antineutrino emissions from the ongoing beta decay of fission fragments can provide a monitoring channel complementary to current safeguards techniques as antineutrinos pass unhindered through any surrounding shielding. This study investigates antineutrino detector concepts for monitoring SNF storage facilities, using Geant4-based detector simulations combined with the modelling of different storage sites configurations. The expected signal rate, sensitivity and directional capabilities of the concept detectors are investigated for different deployment scenarios and use cases, including general monitoring, reducing the burden on operators and inspectors or re-verification of specific casks. Several technological approaches, including liquid organic (LOr) time projection chambers (TPCs), will be compared to establish requirements for background levels, directionality, scalability and positioning. This ongoing work will determine the feasibility of antineutrino detectors as complementary safeguards for SNF facilities and highlight the strengths of the different technologies compared.

Keywords: neutrino; safeguards; verification; nuclear waste