Speaker
Description
Reactor antineutrino detection technologies have advanced significantly in recent years, stemming from scientific investigations into the nature of the neutrino, which have necessitated technology innovations in new scintillators and detection methods. Since reactors are an enormous source of antineutrinos, the potential for antineutrino detectors being used in the reactor safeguards context has also long been recognized. The Nu Tools study was commissioned to survey potential end users in the reactor and nonproliferation communities to identify use-cases that antineutrino monitoring could address. One such use-case identified was the need for safeguarding next generation advanced reactors. To maximize the utility of such detectors, it was recognized that they should be mobile, so that they can be moved if needed, or relocated to another reactor, and that they should be able to operate without overburden protection from fast cosmogenic neutrons – the most prevalent background. The PROSPECT and miniCHANDLER detectors have convincingly shown that above ground detection is achievable. Towards this end, we, in collaboration with Eljen Technologies, have been developing a formulation of $^6$Li-doped pulse shape sensitive plastic scintillator manufacturable at multi-liter volumes, and using them to build the ROADSTR detector, a fully mobile reactor antineutrino detector planned for completion later in 2022. ROADSTR will consist of 36 bars of $^6$Li doped pulse shape sensitive plastic scintillator, enclosed within a borated polyethylene shield and placed within a fully mobile trailer. We will present an update of the latest developments of the $^6$Li-doped PSD plastic scintillator, the detector bar designs and their performance characteristics, and the integration of the inner detector into the mobile shield and trailer.
