Monitoring Reactor Anti-Neutrinos Using a Plastic Scintillator Detector in a Mobile Laboratory

TL;DR

This paper presents a portable, segmented plastic scintillator detector adapted from T2K technology, successfully used in field tests near a nuclear reactor to monitor anti-neutrinos through inverse beta decay detection.

Contribution

It introduces a compact, reliable anti-neutrino detector based on existing calorimeter technology, demonstrated in real-world reactor monitoring conditions.

Findings

Successful detection of reactor anti-neutrinos in field tests

Effective use of plastic scintillator and MPPCs for inverse beta decay signals

Portable detector setup within a standard shipping container

Abstract

Technology developed for the T2K electromagnetic calorimeter has been adapted to make a small footprint, reliable, segmented detector to characterise anti-neutrinos emitted by nuclear reactors. The device has been developed and demonstrated by the University of Liverpool and underwent field tests at the Wylfa Magnox Reactor on Anglesey, UK. It was situated in a 20\,ft ISO shipping container, above ground, roughly 60\,m from the 1.5\,\GWt\ reactor core. Based on the design of the T2K Near Detector ECal, the device detects anti-neutrinos through the distinctive delayed coincidence signal of inverse $\beta$-decay interactions using extruded plastic scintillator and Hamamatsu Multi-Pixel Photon Counters.