The use of CEvNS to monitor spent nuclear fuel

TL;DR

This paper investigates using Coherent-Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS) as a novel method to verify the contents of spent nuclear fuel stored in dry casks, offering a potentially effective monitoring technology.

Contribution

It demonstrates that CEvNS can detect neutrinos from spent nuclear fuel more effectively than Inverse Beta Decay, enabling non-invasive verification of cask contents.

Findings

CEvNS event rates exceed IBD rates by 2-3 orders of magnitude at low recoil energies.

A 10 kg detector can detect over 100 neutrino events per year at 3 meters from a fuel cask.

Detecting low recoil energies (<100 eV) is crucial for effective CEvNS-based monitoring.

Abstract

Increasing amounts of spent nuclear fuel are stored in dry storage casks for prolonged periods of time. To date no effective technology exists to re-verify cask contents should this become necessary. We explore the applicability of Coherent-Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS) to monitor the content of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from dry storage casks. SNF produces neutrinos chiefly from $^{90}$Sr decays. We compare these results with what can be achieved via Inverse Beta Decay (IBD). We demonstrate that at low nuclear recoil energies CEvNS events rates exceed the IBD event rates by 2--3 orders of magnitude for a given detector mass. We find that a 10\,kg argon or germanium detector 3 meters from a fuel cask can detect over 100 events per year if a nuclear recoil threshold under 100 eV can be achieved.