First Measurement of Neutrino Emissions from Spent Nuclear Fuel by the Double Chooz Experiment
T. Abrahão (Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22290-180, Brazil, APC, Université de Paris, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, F-75006, Paris); H. Almazan (Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany); J.C. dos Anjos (Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22290-180, Brazil); S. Appel (Physik Department, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany); J.C. Barriere (IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France); et al - Show all 93 authors
Neutrino emission from nuclear reactors provides real-time insights into reactor power and fuel evolution, with potential applications in monitoring and nuclear safeguards. Following reactor shutdown, a low-intensity flux of “residual neutrinos” persists due to the decay of long-lived fission isotopes in the partially burnt fuel remaining within the reactor cores and in spent nuclear fuel stored in nearby cooling pools. The Double Chooz experiment at the Chooz B nuclear power plant in France achieved the first quantitative measurement of this residual flux based on 17.2 days of reactor-off data. In the energy range where the residual signal is most pronounced, the neutrino detector located 400 m from the cores recorded neutrino candidate events ( significance). This measurement is in excellent agreement with the predicted value of events derived from detailed reactor simulations modeling the decay activities of fission products and incorporating the best-available models of neutrino spectra.
