Applied Antineutrino Physics Workshop 2023

18 Sep 2023, 08:45 → 21 Sep 2023, 17:00 Europe/London

The Guildhall York

Jonathon Coleman, Liz Kneale (University of Sheffield)

"York Guildhall" by Tim Green aka atoach is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The Applied Antineutrino Physics (AAP) workshops provide an engaging and lively forum for the review and discussion of antineutrino detection and technology R&D for applications including reactor monitoring, safeguards and geophysics.

This year's 16th AAP workshop will be held from the 18th to the 20th September in York in the United Kingdom, in conjunction with STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory.

The venue for the workshop will be the 15th century Main Hall of the Guildhall in the historic centre of York. A conference dinner will be held on the 19th September at the 14th century Hospitium, set in the beautiful York Museum Gardens,  overlooked by the striking ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. Following the workshop, on the 21st September, there will be an opportunity to visit Boulby Underground Laboratory.

For more insight into the topics covered, you can browse past AAP workshops here.

 

The Guildhall conference space (left), location of the AAP 2023 workshop.

The Hospitium York (right), where the conference dinner will be held. (Tim Green from Bradford, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2023 - Visa Invitation Letter Template.docx

Monday, 18 September

08:45 → 09:15 Arrival and tea/coffee

Tea/coffee and biscuits

09:15 → 09:25 AAP 2023 opening speech

Speaker: John Learned (U. Hawaii)

AAP 2023 York Introduction.pptx.pdf

09:25 → 09:30 Welcome from STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory

Speaker: Sean Paling (STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory)

09:30 → 09:50 Boulby Underground Laboratory

Speaker: Christopher Toth

AAP 2023 Presentation.pdf

09:50 → 10:35 Antineutrino detection & technology overview

Since the successes of the Daya Bay, Double Chooz and RENO 𝜃_13 experiments in the early 2000s,
antineutrino detection technologies have continued to evolve, providing new capabilities such as next
generation scintillating materials, photon detectors and new dual phase TPC techniques. Some of these
technologies are being employed in detectors coming online now. Most recently, above ground detection
of reactor antineutrinos, which relies upon the identification of cosmogenic fast neutrons to reduce the
most prevalent backgrounds, was accomplished using pulse shape sensitive scintillator or innovative new
designs that permit improved topological reconstruction of complex event structures. Speculating on
future developments, we can look forward to capabilities such as improved aboveground sensitivity, and
shallower deployment requirements in general. Further advances will come from order of magnitude
improvements in vertex resolution, higher photon detection efficiencies, more stable and less toxic
materials, and better particle ID. Separately, coherent scattering detection remains an elusive but
potentially attractive solution due to the relatively high interaction cross section. Many of the new
technologies described here will have important implications for applications in the future. In this talk I
will survey technologies and techniques being developed now, and project how they may improve
capabilities for applications in the future.

Speaker: Steven Dazeley

AAP_Review_Dazeley.pdf

10:35 → 11:00 AM tea/coffee

Tea/coffee

11:00 → 11:45 Neutrino applications overview

Speaker: Rachel Carr

Carr_AAP.pdf

11:45 → 12:30 Reactor flux and spectrum overview

Speaker: Leendert Hayen

Hayen_AAP.pdf

12:30 → 13:30 Lunch

Buffet lunch

13:30 → 14:15 Global project overview

Speaker: Patrick Huber

AAP2023-Huber-v2.pdf

14:15 → 15:00 Neutrino applications utility overview

Speaker: Andrew Conant (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

AdvancedReactorSafeguards_Neutrinos_AAP_Indico.pdf

15:00 → 15:25 PM tea/coffee

Tea and coffee and cake, scone or pastry

15:25 → 17:05 Neutrino applications: Session 1

Convener: Tomi Akindele (LLNL)

15:25 Nu Tools: Exploring Practical Roles for Neutrinos in Nuclear Energy and Security

The Nu Tools study was developed to explore the potential roles for neutrino within nuclear energy and nuclear security. This effort differs from previous neutrino detector studies as it is focused on the potential utilities and determining if there is a possible use case for neutrino detectors as a monitoring technology. Due to the importance of understanding potential use cases, this effort focused on interviewing experts working in the respective application areas. These experts focused on nuclear safeguards and nuclear reactor operations, while also including a set of neutrino technology experts. This presentation will describe the details of the Nu Tools study and methods, the Nu Tools Framework, cross-cutting and use-case specific findings for the study.

Speaker: Michael Foxe (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

1_NuToolsSummary_AAP_2023.pdf

15:45 Nuclear Safeguards: Monitoring of Spent Nuclear Fuel

Speaker: Dr Yan-Jie Schnellbach (RWTH Aachen University)

2023-09-18-NuclearSafeguards-MonitoringOfNuclearWaste.pdf

16:05 Sensitivity Tool for Antineutrino Monitoring of Small Modular Reactors

While reactor antineutrino detection has been performed at current commercial and research reactors, their detection at advanced reactors poses new challenges. The NuTools study identified that neutrino detection could play a role in the safeguards of advanced reactors, such as small modular reactors (SMRs). Several SMR concepts focus on the operation of multiple modules, often within the same reactor building, to be flexible to load demand. This concept of operations would likely require more intensive safeguards, e.g., more frequent inspection visits. We focus on the sensitivity of multiple neutrino detectors at SMR sites. Cases of interest include total and individual reactor signals for operational status, power level, and the possibility at fissile content determination. Results show that operational status is relatively simple to determine for the sum of the modules but the sensitivity of discriminating all units on versus all but one of the units on to be difficult depending on the proximity of the detector to the individual reactor unit. Power level quantification is still underway.

Speaker: Andrew Conant (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Neutrinos_SMRs_AAP_Indico.pdf

16:25 Establishing Antineutrino-based Safeguards Using the State-level Concept

Antineutrino detection systems have potential to safeguard the next generation of nuclear reactors. In theory, these systems can be implemented for status verification, reactor power monitoring, and special nuclear material diversion detection. Previous studies have investigated the applicability of this technology using models and simulations, but are often heavily reliant on various situational assumptions, such as diversion pathways and detection probability limits. As antineutrino-based detection systems continue to be considered for future nuclear reactor safeguards, researchers need a coherent and flexible method to adjust system parameters to match the current International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) framework.

In this work, we develop a methodology for selecting detection probability limits for antineutrino-based safeguards. Detection probability, or the probability of detecting a diversion scenario, is a key metric for assessing current antineutrino-based safeguard capabilities. Highlighting the IAEA's utilization of State-level safeguards approaches, our detection probability threshold values are quantified by State-specific factors, or factors used by the IAEA in establishing safeguards activities. We interpolate between the various State-specific factors and user-given weighting parameters to quantify reasonable detection probability limits. This detection probability can shift drastically depending on a wide-range of situational parameters, including reactor and facility design. Our results indicate that antineutrino-based safeguards would perform best as a complementary safeguard, regardless of reactor design.

Speaker: Mr Caiser Bravo (Georgia Institute of Technology)

AAP_Presentation_2023.pdf

16:45 Scalability of Gd-doped water-Cherenkov reactor-antineutrino IBD detectors for non-proliferation

Recent advances in large water-Cherenkov detector technology, such as doping water with gadolinium at Super-Kamiokande, highlight the feasibility of detecting antineutrinos from power reactors hundreds of kilometers away.

However, in the context of nuclear non-proliferation, detecting power reactors is generally not considered a challenge using more traditional detection techniques. Of more interest are relatively small (50MWt) nuclear reactors which can potentially evade detection.

The question is then: with an accurate understanding of detector efficiencies and backgrounds, how scalable is the Gd-doped water-Cherenkov detection technique?

If we have a multi-kiloton detector, what is the maximum range to detect such a modest reactor in one year? Here we report on a recent study of the scalability of Gd-doped water Cherenkov detectors in three different reactor antineutrino background environments chosen to represent regions with high, medium and low concentrations of nearby large reactors.

Speaker: Viacheslav Li (LLNL)

PhysRevApplied.18.034059.pdf

VLi_ScalabilityGdH2O_AAP2023.pdf

Tuesday, 19 September

08:30 → 09:00 Arrival tea/coffee

Tea or coffee and biscuits

09:00 → 09:40 Neutrino applications: Session 2

Convener: Yan-Jie Schnellbach (RWTH Aachen University)

09:00 An antineutrino-based detection concept for non-intrusive site-wide reactor monitoring

Future advanced reactor designs may use liquid fuel or uncountable numbers of small fuel elements. Such designs will be difficult or impossible to monitor for safeguards via traditional item accountancy techniques. One way to address this issue, being pursued by the U.S. Dept of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy Material Protection Accounting and Control Technologies (MPACT), is to develop instruments that can operate directly inside the core. To this end, diagnostic tools are being developed that can withstand the extreme temperature and radiation conditions near the fuel inside a reactor. Generally, however, due to the harsh conditions, compromises to sensitivity must be considered in favor of long-term survivability. Another approach is to monitor from a safe distance is via antineutrino detection. Above ground tools are being developed to monitor antineutrino flux (PROSPECT, miniCHANDLER and MAD). However, these tools must be placed where the reactor flux is high enough to overcome the high rate of cosmogenic backgrounds present above ground. For low flux scenarios such as low power reactor monitoring, or in situations where infrastructure around the reactor does not permit a close in deployment, larger liquid-based detectors deployed a few meters underground may be required to reduce the hadronic component of the cosmogenic background. For detector target volumes greater than about ~10 tons, it is worth considering simple monolithic detector designs that can be deployed quickly. By reducing channel count and making use of novel scintillator formulations that can improve background rejection, it may be possible to improve deployability and decrease overburden compared to the state-of-the-art monolithic detectors, such as Double-Chooz and Daya Bay detectors. Here we present the results of a MC-based analysis of a simple design that can provide from between 10-100 tons of fiducial target, while limiting overall non-fiducial detector size. The results indicate that the chosen design can deliver excellent background suppression and energy resolution.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. Release number LLNL-ABS-852263

Speaker: steven dazeley (lawrence livermore national laboratory)

1_NearMidField_Dazeley.pdf

09:20 SNIFR - Submarine Neutrino Identification For Reconnaissance

We are now in an era where the sensitivity and scalability of neutrino detectors allows for more intimate investigation into nuclear reactors at range. The reactors deployed on nuclear submarines have a thermal power output around an order of magnitude lower than that of power reactors, but a scalable detector technology could be deployed on a large commercial ship to detect submarines at a range comparable to passive sonar in some scenarios, independent of environment. This talk presents the viability of this technique in the context of modern detector sensitivities, and discusses its practicality.

Speaker: Alex Goldsack (King's College London)

goldsack_snifr_aap_2023.pdf

09:40 → 10:40 Neutrino detection & technology: Session 1

Convener: Yan-Jie Schnellbach (RWTH Aachen University)

09:40 WbLS with pulse-shape discrimination

Speaker: Tomi Akindele (LLNL)

3_Akindele_AAP_2023.pdf

10:00 Materials development in the 30-tonne tank at BNL

Speaker: Minfang Yeh (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

material development and 30T demonstrator at BNL v1.pdf

10:20 BUTTON technology testbeds

Speaker: Jon Coleman

AAP 2023 Presentation.pdf

10:40 → 11:05 AM tea/coffee

Tea or coffee

11:05 → 12:25 Neutrino detection & technology: Session 2

Convener: Viacheslav Li (LLNL)

11:05 Measurement of reactor neutrinos using plastic scintillator cube

A new reactor neutrinos detector using a plastic scintillator is developed. This detector is compact and intended to measure $\bar{\nu}_{e}$ from nuclear reactors by ground-based installation. The compact one-ton class detector for inverse beta decay (IBD) must be installed close to the $\bar{\nu}_{e}$ source. For this purpose, the detector is being developed near the core of a research reactor. For ground-based detectors, it is an important issue to distinguish the $\bar{\nu}_{e}$ signals from background events. In this study, a plastic scintillator cubic detector with high position resolution will be developed to improve the background event rejection in the prompt of IBD signal. The status and plan of neutrino monitor experiments at research reactor are described.

Speaker: Dr Shoichi Hasegawa (Japan Atomic Energy Agency)

20230919AAP_SHv01.pdf

11:25 Nuclear reactor monitoring with gadolinium-loaded plastic scintillator modules

In this talk, 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. Synthesize and characterization results of gadolinium-loaded plastic scintillators samples are discussed.

Speaker: Sertac Ozturk (Istinye University)

AAP2023_Sertac.pdf

11:45 A 6Li-doped pulse shape sensitive plastic scintillator for ton-scale detector applications

Large-scale 6Li-doped pulse shape sensitive plastic scintillator is one of several technologies under development within the Mobile Antineutrino Demonstrator project. Liquid scintillator with similar capabilities was one of key aspects of the aboveground reactor antineutrino detection demonstration by the PROSPECT experiment. However, a plastic material is considered a requirement for truly mobile above-ground detection systems suited to reactor monitoring for safeguards. The new formulation of plastic scintillator is being developed in partnership with Eljen Technologies and can be obtained in multi-liter single volumes enabling the construction of segments at meter-scale lengths. We will present a summary of measured performance criteria, which include attenuation length, stability, pulse shape sensitivity, and neutron efficiency measurements.
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-853010

Speaker: Cristian Roca (LLNL)

12:05 Performance of the ROADSTR PSD Plastic Prototype Detector

The Reactor Operations Antineutrino Detection Surface Testbed Rover (ROADSTR) detector prototype was constructed from Li-6-doped Pulse Shape Discriminating plastic scintillators. Comprising 36 bars of 50cm in length arranged in a 6x6 array, ROADSTR has a mass of about 60kg. Over almost one year of operation, this device has been used to study scintillator characteristics and inverse beta decay backgrounds. Here we will describe the characterization of the detector and a variety of background measurements conducted with it.

Speaker: Caiser Bravo

ROADSTR_AAP.pdf

12:25 → 13:25 Lunch

Buffet lunch

13:25 → 15:15 Neutrino detection & technology: Session 3

Convener: Nathaniel Bowden (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

13:25 Novel opaque scintillator technology for antineutrino detection

Scintillator detectors have been used for antineutrino detection since the 1950s when Cowan and Reines used them to discover the neutrino. Modern experiments still use scintillators to study neutrino physics. Scintillators convert the energy released in a neutrino interaction into light, which photosensors can detect. Traditional scintillator detectors are transparent, allowing light to reach the photosensors. However, this transparency also limits the ability to image the neutrino interaction. Scintillator detectors can be segmented to improve their imaging, which introduces additional challenges in building and operating the detector. This talk will detail LiquidO, a new and counterintuitive opaque scintillator detector. We achieve the opacity with short scattering length materials for the scintillation light. The opaque scintillator is traversed by wavelength-shifting fibres, which collect and transport the light to the photosensors. This arrangement allows for high-resolution imaging, enabling highly efficient particle identification from the MeV to GeV scale and many applications. We will show how LiquidO can discriminate signal from backgrounds with high significance when measuring reactor antineutrinos at the surface without an underground facility. Finally, we will present prototype results demonstrating the LiquidO technique and the plans for constructing a 5-ton demonstrator close to France's Chooz nuclear power plant.

Speaker: Thiago Bezerra (University of Sussex)

20230719_AAP_opaque_thiago_vF.pdf

13:45 Novel Methodology for Low Energy IBD-like Antineutrinos Detection and Potential

The novel methodology outlined in the just-released “Probing Earth's Missing Potassium using the Unique Antimatter Signature of Geoneutrinos” (arXiv:2308.04154) shows a novel possible way to address one of the most extreme measurements neutrinos may be able to accomplish: the observation of 40K geoneutrinos — so far proved impossible. The most challenging condition of this measurement is to find an IBD-like interaction with an energy threshold well below the typical 1.8MeV IBD on protons since the energy spectrum of 40K has a Q-value of ~1.3MeV. Our study finds, for the first time, that there seems to be only a single isotope in the Universe capable of addressing this elusive requirement as well as others necessary to ensure feasible detection. One of the most critical is that detection requires a detector capable of identifying the signature of antimatter; i.e. single-e+ ID is a must. This rules out most of today’s technology except the LiquidO (see dedicated talk), which may be able to address the challenges upon loading. Beyond geoneutrino observations, there are possible applications that open with lower-energy anti-neutrinos detection using the same principle. The new detection methodology for the lowest energy anti-neutrinos will be highlighted in my talk, including a preliminary discussion of applications.

Speaker: Anatael Cabrera (IJCLab / CNRS / Université Paris-Saclay)

14:00 Development of a High-Energy Two-Component Gamma Calibration Source

The detection of electron antineutrinos can provide the means for confirming the presence and monitoring of the operational characteristics of nuclear reactors. Water-based Cherenkov detectors with gadolinium doping are one of the technologies under study for this application. The energy scale of the emitted positron and the de-excitation cascade from neutron capture by gadolinium motivates the development of gamma calibration sources with energies of several MeV. One such potential source is provided by the 13C(α,n)16O reaction. At alpha energies above ~5 MeV, a significant branching ratio exists for the deexcitation of 16O via the emission of a 6.1-MeV gamma ray. The fast neutron also produced from this reaction can be used to tag events in the large water-based detector. 241Am is an appealing alpha source as it has emission energy above the ~5 MeV threshold, high specific activity, and does not possess the regulatory overhead of other alpha sources. We discuss continued refinement of the simulation methods developed to predict source yield as a function of the source design parameters. These include implementing more advanced physics models and transitioning the simulation software to a more generalized framework. We additionally present initial measurement results to demonstrate the production of the calibration signals of interest.

Speaker: Igor Jovanovic (University of Michigan)

AAP 2023 Jovanovic.pdf

14:20 Forest of Tubes for a directional IBD detector

Speaker: John Learned (U. Hawaii)

14:35 EoS – A Pathfinder Experiment for Low Energy Neutrino Physics with the Hybrid Detector THEIA

Future ktonne-scale, scintillation-based neutrino detectors, such as THEIA, plan to exploit new
and yet to be developed technologies to simultaneously measure Cherenkov and scintillation
signals in order to provide a rich and broad physics program. These hybrid detectors will be
based on fast timing photodetectors, novel target materials, such as water-based liquid
scintillator (WbLS), and spectral sorting. Besides a brief overview on THEIA’s program for
low energy astroparticle and particle physics this talk focuses on a currently realized
demonstrator experiment, called EOS. This novel detector with an approximately 4-tonne target
fiducial volume is under construction at the UC Berkeley and LBNL (Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory). The detector will provide a test-bed for these emerging technologies
required for hybrid Cherenkov/Scintillation detectors. Furthermore, EOS will deploy
calibration sources to verify the optical models of WbLS and other liquid scintillators with slow
light emission, to enable an extrapolation to ktonne-scale detectors. This input will support the
development of advanced techniques for reconstructing event energy, position, and direction in
hybrid detectors significantly. After achieving these goals, EOS can be moved near a nuclear
reactor or in a particle test-beam to demonstrate neutrino event reconstruction or detailed event
characterization within these novel detectors.

Speaker: Hans Steiger

AbstractEosYork23.pdf

EosYork23_Steiger.pdf

14:55 PALEOCCENE

4_AAP2023-PALEOCCENE.pdf

15:15 → 15:40 PM tea/coffee

Tea or coffee and cake, scone or pastry

15:40 → 17:42 Flux and spectrum prediction: Session 1

Convener: Thiago Bezerra (University of Sussex)

15:40 Geoneutrinos: messengers from the inaccessible Earth

The 99% of the Earth’s radiogenic heat is generated by K, Th, and U that through beta minus decay release antineutrinos and heat proportionally. The U and Th geoneutrino flux measured by underground liquid scintillator detectors aids in testing Earth's compositional models with the energy spectrum analysis limiting U and Th quantity and distribution in the whole planet. Accurate predictions of lithospheric geoneutrino signals, derived by constructing geophysical and geochemical models, permit to improve the understanding of direct geoneutrino measurements revealing mantle's radiogenic power and composition.
Future years will see the geoneutrino data expand beyond the Borexino and KamLAND experiments. The imminent release of data from the Canadian SNO+ experiment, along with the nearly complete Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), points out a new age of multi-site geoneutrino detection, enhancing our comprehension of geoneutrino signals originating from the Earth.
The talk will review the impacts of the recent results from KamLAND and Borexino, the expected outcomes from SNO+ and JUNO and the future perspectives and challenges for geoneutrino science.

Speaker: Dr Virginia Strati (University of Ferrara & INFN Ferrara)

AAP_Virginia_Strati.pdf

16:00 Reactor flux from reactor data

Speaker: Bedrich Roskovec (Charles University, Prague)

AAP_ReactNuFlux_Roskovec.pdf

16:20 Reactor spectrum from reactor data

Speaker: Cristian Roca (LLNL)

AAP3_final.pdf

16:40 Progress towards understanding the source of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly

We have reviewed the nuclear data used in the normalization of the electron spectra measured at the Institut Laue Langevin in the 1980s, concluding that they are very close to currently recommended values, except for the neutron capture cross section on 207Pb, which is 9% higher. This would lead to an artificially larger 235U electron and antineutrino spectra, consistent with the Daya Bay Collaboration results, as well as those reported recently by Kopeikin and collaborators. Additionally, following an analysis that employs the latest nuclear databases of the electron data measured at ORNL in the 1970s by Dickens and collaborators, we have deduced new electron and antineutrino spectra for 235U and 239,241Pu under equilibrium conditions, which are consistent with the above mentioned normalization issue, and which can better reproduce the IBD antineutrino spectrum near its maximum, thus providing a coherent explanation for the origin of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly.

Speaker: Alejandro Sonzogni (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

AAP23_Sonzogni.pdf

17:00 Fission yields of isomers in antineutrino calculations

Isomeric states have been observed in about 150 of the hundreds of isotopes that can be produced in the fission of major actinides. These isomers can be populated directly through fission, and the isomeric yield ratio (IYR) represents the relative population of the excited state(s) and the ground state (GS) independent yield.

In this work, we present a comprehensive study of the extent to which IYRs affect the antineutrino flux predictions with the summation method using two different approaches. First, we estimated how a set of newly evaluated recommended IYRs change the antineutrino spectra of all major actinides of interest for reactor antineutrino spectra ($^{235,238}$U,$^{239,241}$Pu). Then we individually looked at the contribution of each fission product with a known isomer, and studied how a different IYR value would affect the calculated antineutrino spectra.

While essentially no effect on the antineutrino spectrum is observed below 5 MeV, changes on the order of 1%-2% for each fuel type become evident between 5 and 7 MeV. These grow to as much as 30% above 7 MeV. The changes show consistently an increase in the antineutrino yield when the newly evaluated isomeric yields are used, compared to the values included in evaluated Fission Yields libraries.

Speaker: Andrea Mattera (Brookhaven National Laboratory - NNDC)

Mattera_AppliedAntineutrinoPhysics2023 (1).pdf

17:20 IAEA meeting report

Speaker: Paraskevi Dimitriou (International Atomic Energy Agency)

AppliedAntineutrinos2023-dimitriou.pdf

17:40 Reactor flux summation method summary

APP_2023_LorenzoPerisse_2slides.pdf

APP_2023_LorenzoPerisse.pdf

APP_2023_LorenzoPerisse_recording.mp4

19:00 → 23:00 Conference dinner with drinks reception courtesy of John Caunt Scientific Ltd

Conference dinner at the Hospitium in the Museum of York Gardens

Wednesday, 20 September

08:30 → 09:00 Arrival tea/coffee

Tea or coffee and biscuits

09:00 → 10:20 Flux and spectrum prediction: Session 2

Convener: Rachel Carr (US Naval Academy)

09:00 Modelling of the anti-neutrino emissions from an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor

The Hartlepool Advanced-Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) design will be described and results from simulations of the anti-neutrino emissions from the reactors based on actual in-core data presented. The potential for siting small antineutrino detectors on site and performing near-field measurements and stand-off measurements will also be discussed.

Speaker: Dr Andrew Petts (EDF)

AAP_Petts.pdf

09:20 Anti-Neutrino Flux from the EdF Hartlepool Nuclear Power Plant

We present the first detailed simulation of the antineutrino emissions from an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) core, based upon operational data from the UK Hartlepool reactors and reactor calculations for each of the 2592 assemblies in each of the two cores. An accurate description of the evolution of the anti-neutrino spectrum of reactor cores is needed to assess the performance of antineutrino-based monitoring concepts for non-proliferation, including estimations of the sensitivity of the antineutrino rate and spectrum to fuel content and reactor thermal power. The antineutrino spectral variation we present, while specific to AGRs, helps provide insight into the likely behaviour of other reactor designs that use a similar batch refuelling approach, such as those used in RBMK, CANDU and other reactors. Comparisons will be shown with PWR reactor anti-neutrino emissions and the effects of different refuelling approaches.

Speaker: Robert Mills (UK National Nuclear Laboratory)

01 - AAP2023 - Mills - Issue 1.pptx

09:40 Estimating Neutrino Signals Using reactors.geoneutrinos.org

This is an interactive tour of the neutrino signal estimates available using the online tool at reactors.geoneutrinos.org. Questions, feedback and recommendations from participants are encouraged.

Speaker: Steve Dye (U Hawaii)

Estimating_Neutrino_Signals_AAP_2023.pdf

10:00 CONFLUX - The Reactor Antientrino Flux Prediction Software

The predicted reactor antineutrino flux is an important ingredient for particle physics measurements and neutrino-based safeguards applications, ranging from neutrino oscillation measurements to monitoring reactor fuel and operations. Over the past decade, comparisons between predictions and reactor neutrino experiments have revealed significant discrepancies which have motivated new neutrino and nuclear data measurements. CONFLUX, the Calculation Of Neutrino FLUX, is a software framework that aims to provide a flexible and modular tool for multiple communities. This new framework is being developed to standardize the input and output of the neutrino flux calculation, increase the accessibility of neutrino, nuclear data to the community, and package benchmark reactor and nuclear data. The software integrates three different prediction modes: summation, beta-spectra conversion, and direct neutrino measurements. The comprehensive and flexible inclusion of nuclear data allow users to perform sensitivity studies, evaluate impact of new data, monitoring studies, assess novel reactor types, etc. In this presentation, we describe the status of the framework development, the calculation capability, and the potential applications.

Speaker: Xianyi Zhang (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

CONFLUX_AAP2023.pdf

10:20 → 10:45 AM tea/coffee

Tea/coffee

10:45 → 12:25 Global projects: Session 1

Convener: Cristian Roca (LLNL)

10:45 Antineutrino measurements in SNO+

SNO+ is a multi-purpose experiment located at SNOLAB in Canada, with the main goal to search for neutrinoless double beta decay but measuring also neutrinos from several sources. In an earlier phase, SNO+ has made the first ever observation of reactor antineutrinos in a pure water Cherenkov detector. Presently, the water has been replaced by liquid scintillator, making SNO+ sensitive to geoneutrinos and allowing for much more detailed measurements of the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum. Most of the flux comes from Ontario's nuclear power plants, located 250 km and 340 km away from the detector, which provides a good sensitivity to neutrino oscillation parameters. This contribution will review the past results, present status and future prospects for antineutrino measurements at SNO+.

Speaker: Sofia Andringa (LIP)

SNO+AAP2023.pdf

11:05 Reactor neutrinos in Super-Kamiokande Gadolinium

Speaker: Lucas Nascimento Machado (University of Glasgow)

SKGd_AAP_LucasMachado.pdf

11:25 DoubleChooz Experiment: Latest Results for Antineutrino Applied Detection

The latest results of the DoubleChooz experiment in the context of applied antineutrino detection will be summarised in this talk. DoubleChooz experimental set-up, based at the EDF Chooz nuclear reactor (France), offers full reactor power modulation data. This enables DoubleChooz to achieve today’s world precision on the reactor flux measurement using reactor-on data and a precise spectral characterisation with reactor-off data.

Speaker: Thiago Bezerra (University of Sussex)

20230920_AAP_DoubleChooz_thiago2.pdf

11:45 PROSPECT experiment

Speaker: Bryce Littlejohn (IIT)

4_Littlejohn_AAP.pdf

12:05 DANSS reactor antineutrino spectrometer: results for 2023

DANSS is a highly segmented solid-state scintillation spectrometer that detects up to 5000 reactor antineutrinos at a distance of 10-13 m from the industrial nuclear reactor (4 units, 3.1 GW) of the Kalinin NPP. Taking into account the low background (only 2%), this makes it possible to search for oscillations into sterile neutrinos in the ∆m2 ⊂ ( 0,02−5,0) eV2 region. Results will be presented based on record statistics - almost 8 million reactor antineutrinos over 7 years of measurements. We did not find a statistically significant oscillation signal and excluded a significant part of their possible phase space. In addition, the results of research into the evolution of nuclear fuel, differences in the shapes of the experimental and theoretical spectra of reactor antineutrinos will be presented. Particular attention will be paid to the upgrade of the spectrometer, the main goal of which is to achieve an energy resolution no worse than 12% at 1 MeV on 1.7 more sensitive volume with the same passive shielding and mobile platform.

Speaker: Yury Shitov (IEAP CVUT, Prague, Czechia)

danss_aap2023_shitov_final.pdf

danss_aap2023_shitov.pptx

12:25 → 13:25 Lunch

Buffet lunch

13:25 → 14:45 Global projects: Session 2

Convener: Sertac Ozturk (Istinye University)

13:25 Status of miniCHANDLER and CHANDLER

Speaker: Keegan Walkup (Virginia Tech)

1_AAP CHANDLER slides.pdf

13:45 Measurement of anti-neutrinos from Nuclear Waste with VIDARR

VIDARR (Verification Instrument for
the Direct Assay of Radiation at Range (VIDARR) is a ~2 tonne plastic scintillator detector doped with gadolinium designed to measure the anti-neutrino flux from reactor cores at a safe distance outside the core. The detector will shortly be deployed at Sellafield to detect anti-neutrinos from nuclear waste. A description of the detector and deployment will be given.

Speaker: Carl Metelko

14:05 MAD experiment

Speaker: Nathaniel Bowden (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

MAD_Overview_AAP.pdf

14:25 The status of Reactor Experiment for Neutrino and Exotics

We report the status of Reactor Experiment for Neutrino and Exotics (RENE),
which primarily aims to search for the sterile neutrino oscillation at $\Delta m_{41}^2 \sim 2 eV^2$.
The joint study of RENO and NEOS experiments showed a hint for the sterile neutrinos
at $\Delta m_{41}^2 \sim 2.4 eV^2$ and $\sim 1.7 eV^2$, which overlap with the allowed region by the Reactor Anti-neutrino Anomaly.
This experiment can also take precise measurements of the flux and spectrum of reactor electron antineutrino,
and separate the reactor neutrino spectrum into those from 235U and 239Pu.
In this presentation, the detector concept, physics cases, and the status of the experiment will be reported.

Speaker: Byeongsu Yang (Seoul National University)

ByeongsuYang_Status of RENE_AAP2023.pdf

14:45 → 15:10 PM tea/coffee

Tea or coffee and cake, scone or pastry

15:10 → 16:50 Global projects: Session 3

Convener: Carl Metelko

15:10 The COHERENT Experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source

The first observations of coherent elastic neutrino nuclear scattering (CEvNS) on multiple nuclei were recently made by the COHERENT experiment at the Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This basic interaction now lays the foundation for a new era in developing compact neutrino detectors as well as a new probe of physics topics including electromagnetic properties, searches for physics beyond the standard model, and nuclear form factors. The Spallation Neutron Source is ideally suited for not only CEvNS studies but also a broader set of high-precision neutrino physics measurements and dark matter searches due to the accelerator's intensity, pulsed structure, and proton-beam energy. We present an overview of the compelling scientific opportunities in particle physics enabled by proton power upgrades now underway and a future upgrade of a new target facility at the SNS.

Speaker: Jason Newby (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

2023-AAP-COHERENT-Overview_final.pdf

15:30 Recent results from the CONUS experiment

The CONUS reactor antineutrino experiment studies coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CEνNS) on germanium nuclei. For several years, the experiment was collecting data at about 17 m distance from the 3.9 GWth reactor core of the nuclear power plant in Brokdorf, Germany. Very low energy thresholds of about 210 eV were achieved in four 1 kg point contact germanium detectors equipped with electric cryocooling. With the most recent data set, the constraints on the CEνNS rate could be significantly improved as compared to previous CONUS analyses. The CONUS setup was recently moved from Brokdorf to a power plant in Leibstadt, Switzerland, where the experiment will continue data taking with improved detectors and an optimised shield design.

Speaker: Christian Buck (MPIK Heidelberg)

Buck_CONUS.pdf

15:50 CEvNS at the Dresden-II reactor and beyond

The recent detection of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) enables neutrino investigations of new physics with small-size detectors. However, CEνNS generates signals at the few- or sub-keV levels, requiring very sensitive detector technologies. High-yield neutrino sources, including power reactors, provide the fluxes required for definitive explorations of the phenomenological and technological applications of CEνNS.
The applicability of p-type point contact Ge detectors to this sector of neutrino physics is well established. Several improvements to the current epitome of Ge diodes, the NCC-1701 detector, are in progress for its re-deployment in the next phase of reactor CEνNS exploration.
In this talk, I will present the success of NCC-1701 at the Dresden-II core in the USA, its operational challenges, and the slew of improvements built into its upcoming installation at the Ringhals nuclear plant in Sweden. In the context of Ringhals, I will also discuss the feasibility of reactor power monitoring via CEνNS, even under present detector capabilities.

Speaker: Mark Lewis (Donostia International Physics Center)

3_AAP Workshop Slides 2023 - Lewis.pdf

16:10 JUNO-TAO

The Taishan Antineutrino Observatory (TAO or JUNO-TAO) is a satellite detector for the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO). JUNO will use reactor antineutrinos at
a baseline of ~ 53 km to probe the interference effects between the two atmospheric mass-squared differences, which are sensitive to the sign of the mass ordering. Located near the Taishan-1 reactor, TAO independently measures the antineutrino energy spectrum of the reactor with unprecedented energy resolution and by that uncovering its fine structure for the first time. Beyond that, TAO is expected to make world-leading time-resolved measurements of the yield and energy spectra of the main isotopes involved in the antineutrino emission of nuclear reactors. By that TAO will provide a unique reference for other experiments and nuclear databases. The TAO experiment will realize a neutrino detection rate of about 2000 per day. In order to achieve its goals, TAO is relying on cutting-edge technology, both in photosensor and liquid scintillator (LS) development which is expected to have an impact on future neutrino and Dark Matter detectors. In this talk, the design of the TAO detector with special focus on its new detection technologies will be
introduced. In addition, an overview of the progress currently being made in the R&D for photosensor and LS technology in the frame of the TAO project will be presented.

Speaker: Hans Steiger

SteigerTaoYork2023.pdf

16:30 Prospects for geo-neutrinos and supernova neutrinos with JUNO

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a medium-baseline reactor neutrino experiment under construction in China. It consists of a 20 kt liquid scintillator detector designed for neutrino physics. The main objective of the experiment is to determine the neutrino mass ordering by measuring the energy spectrum of reactor antineutrinos from eight neighboring cores. Also, JUNO will be sensitive to neutrinos emitted by natural sources such as geo-neutrinos and supernova neutrinos.
The measurement of the geo-neutrino provide information about the abundance of Uranium and Thorium in the Earth’s crust and mantle, as well as our planet’s heat budget. Within the first year of data taking, JUNO will be able to exceed the statistics on existing geo-neutrino flux results from Borexino and KamLAND experiments. With increased statistics, JUNO will be able to measure Uranium and Thorium fluxes individually and to establish their ratio, giving insights about Earth's formation processes.
In addition to geo-neutrinos, JUNO will allow measurements of the diffuse supernova neutrino background, pre-supernova neutrinos and the all flavor neutrino flux from a Galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) with high statistics, low threshold and high energy resolution. For maximizing the physics reach of JUNO as a neutrino telescope, two trigger systems will operate to search for a transient astrophysical signal in real time: (i) a dedicated multi-messenger trigger system, (ii) a prompt CCSN monitor embedded in the global trigger system. With those two systems, we will be able to collect precise data that will help us understand the physics of CCSN and other astrophysical phenomena.
This talk will present the expected JUNO sensitivity to geo-neutrinos and the expected performance of JUNO for the detection of different supernova neutrino fluxes.

Speaker: Pierre-Alexandre Petitjean (ULB-IIHE)

PETITJEAN_AAP_talk.pdf

16:50 → 17:05 Concluding statements

Speaker: Nathaniel Bowden (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

Thursday, 21 September

06:00 → 17:00 Boulby Underground Laboratory visit (optional)

Visit to the Boulby Underground Laboratory site, including a tour of the underground lab.

Return transport to Boulby provided.