- #1
xpell
- 140
- 16
Hi! I was reading this article about the possibility of detecting removals of "double-use" fissile materials from a known reactor using an antineutrino detector deployed in a truck "that uses 20 tons or less of scintillator material (and) could be fit into a 6-meter shipping container and parked outside (the) reactor building, roughly 19 meters from the core." Any other document I've checked (like this one and this one) also talks about detectors located very close to the reactors (max. 20 meters or so.) I find this a bit lame, since if the "customers" let you in so close to the reactor, you'll probably be able to inspect the reactor itself at will too. If they just don't let you in or they disable the detector (hey, it's in their property...) or somehow mess with it (using an additional "fake" antineutrino source, for example?), not to mention if you're trying to locate clandestine reactors from some distance, I think this technology in its current state-of-the-art is essentially useless for this purpose.
So, out of curiosity, I was wondering if those are just prototypes and it would somehow be possible to detect the antineutrinos from, let's say, at least a few hundred meters or kilometers, maybe deploying the detector in a larger truck / container or fitted into a more massive vehicle (a submarine for example, to detect the reactors of other nearby submarines.) Could this be achieved or it's totally off-limits of our present science or technology? And what about directionality?
BTW, this PROSPECT experiment talks about HEU reactors to set some limits. Would HEU reactors (like those on board the submarines and aircraft carriers) emit more antineutrinos when operating, please?
Thank you in advance!
So, out of curiosity, I was wondering if those are just prototypes and it would somehow be possible to detect the antineutrinos from, let's say, at least a few hundred meters or kilometers, maybe deploying the detector in a larger truck / container or fitted into a more massive vehicle (a submarine for example, to detect the reactors of other nearby submarines.) Could this be achieved or it's totally off-limits of our present science or technology? And what about directionality?
BTW, this PROSPECT experiment talks about HEU reactors to set some limits. Would HEU reactors (like those on board the submarines and aircraft carriers) emit more antineutrinos when operating, please?
Thank you in advance!