Anti-Neutrino Flux from the EdF Hartlepool Nuclear Power Plant

TL;DR

This paper provides the first detailed simulation of antineutrino emissions from the UK Hartlepool AGR reactor, aiding in nonproliferation monitoring and understanding reactor core behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel detailed simulation benchmark for antineutrino emissions from an AGR reactor, enhancing understanding of spectral variations and their implications.

Findings

Antineutrino spectrum evolution characterized for Hartlepool AGR.

Simulation results help assess nonproliferation monitoring capabilities.

Insights applicable to similar reactor types using batch refueling.

Abstract

In this article, we present the first detailed simulation of the antineutrino emissions from an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) core, benchmarked with input data from the UK Hartlepool reactors. An accurate description of the evolution of the antineutrino spectrum of reactor cores is needed to assess the performance of antineutrino-based monitoring concepts for nonproliferation, 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 behavior of other reactor designs that use a similar batch refueling approach, such as those used in RBMK, CANDU and other reactors.