This Letter reports the first measurement of the U235 ν¯e energy spectrum by PROSPECT, the Precision Reactor Oscillation and Spectrum experiment, operating 7.9 m from the 85 MWth highly enriched ...uranium (HEU) High Flux Isotope Reactor. With a surface-based, segmented detector, PROSPECT has observed 31678±304(stat) ν¯e-induced inverse beta decays, the largest sample from HEU fission to date, 99% of which are attributed to U235. Despite broad agreement, comparison of the Huber U235 model to the measured spectrum produces a χ2/ndf=51.4/31, driven primarily by deviations in two localized energy regions. The measured U235 spectrum shape is consistent with a deviation relative to prediction equal in size to that observed at low-enriched uranium power reactors in the ν¯e energy region of 5–7 MeV.
We report results from a search for strangelets (small chunks of strange quark matter) in lunar soil using the Yale WNSL accelerator as a mass spectrometer. We have searched over a range in mass from ...A = 42 to A = 70 amu for nuclear charges 5, 6, 8, 9, and 11. No strangelets were found in the experiment. For strangelets with nuclear charge 8, a concentration in lunar soil higher than 10(-16) is excluded at the 95% confidence level. The implied limit on the strangelet flux in cosmic rays is the most sensitive to date for the covered range and is relevant to both recent theoretical flux predictions and a strangelet candidate event found by the AMS-01 experiment.
The ESTU began operation in 1988 and achieved the design voltage of 20 MV in 1990. Since that time, improvements to the gas handling system, negative ion injector, accelerator terminal and control ...system have greatly increased its capability and reliability. Today, the ESTU can efficiently produce an extensive assortment of stable ions at wide-ranging energies in support of low-energy nuclear physics.
We tracked the movement of resident coastal rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus that were experimentally transplanted below a migration barrier in a northern California stream. In 2005 and ...2006, age-1 and older rainbow trout were captured above a 5-m-high waterfall in Freshwater Creek and individually marked with passive integrated transponder tags. Otolith microchemistry confirmed that the above-barrier trout were the progeny of resident rather than anadromous parents, and genetic analysis indicated that the rainbow trout were introgressed with cutthroat trout O. clarkii . At each of three sampling events, half of the tagged individuals (n = 22 and 43 trout in 2005 and 2006, respectively) were released 5 km downstream from the waterfall (approximately 10 km upstream from tidewater), and an equal number of tagged individuals were released above the barrier. Tagged individuals were subsequently relocated with stationary and mobile antennae or recaptured in downstream migrant traps, or both, until tracking ceased in October 2007. Most transplanted individuals remained within a few hundred meters of their release location. Three individuals, including one rainbow trout released above the waterfall, were last detected in the tidally influenced lower creek. Two additional tagged individuals released above the barrier were found alive in below-barrier reaches and had presumably washed over the falls. Two of seven tagged rainbow trout captured in downstream migrant traps had smolted and one was a presmolt. The smoltification of at least some individuals, coupled with above-barrier “leakage” of fish downstream, suggests that above-barrier resident trout have the potential to exhibit migratory behavior and to enter breeding populations of steelhead (anadromous rainbow trout) within the basin. Received April 7, 2011; accepted July 6, 2011
Background radiation measurements at high power research reactors Ashenfelter, J.; Balantekin, B.; Baldenegro, C.X. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
01/2016, Letnik:
806
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Research reactors host a wide range of activities that make use of the intense neutron fluxes generated at these facilities. Recent interest in performing measurements with relatively low event ...rates, e.g. reactor antineutrino detection, at these facilities necessitates a detailed understanding of background radiation fields. Both reactor-correlated and naturally occurring background sources are potentially important, even at levels well below those of importance for typical activities. Here we describe a comprehensive series of background assessments at three high-power research reactors, including γ-ray, neutron, and muon measurements. For each facility we describe the characteristics and identify the sources of the background fields encountered. The general understanding gained of background production mechanisms and their relationship to facility features will prove valuable for the planning of any sensitive measurement conducted therein.
This paper describes the design and performance of a 50 liter, two-segment 6Li-loaded liquid scintillator detector that was designed and operated as prototype for the PROSPECT (Precision Reactor ...Oscillation and Spectrum) Experiment. The two-segment detector was constructed according to the design specifications of the experiment. It features low-mass optical separators, an integrated source and optical calibration system, and materials that are compatible with the 6Li-doped scintillator developed by PROSPECT. We demonstrate a high light collection of 850±20 PE/MeV, an energy resolution of σ=4.0±0.2% at 1 MeV, and efficient pulse-shape discrimination of low dE/dx (electronic recoil) and high dE/dx (nuclear recoil) energy depositions. An effective scintillation attenuation length of 85±3 cm is measured in each segment. The 0.1% by mass concentration of 6Li in the scintillator results in a measured neutron capture time of τ=42.8±0.2μs. The long-term stability of the scintillator is also discussed. The detector response meets the criteria necessary for achieving the PROSPECT physics goals and demonstrates features that may find application in fast neutron detection.
PROSPECT, the Precision Reactor Oscillation and SPECTrum experiment, is a short-baseline reactor antineutrino experiment designed to provide precision measurements of the 235U product bar nue ...spectrum, utilizing an optically segmented 4-ton liquid scintillator detector. PROSPECT's segmentation system, the optical grid, plays a central role in reconstructing the position and energy of bar nue interactions in the detector. This paper is the technical reference for this PROSPECT subsystem, describing its design, fabrication, quality assurance, transportation and assembly in detail. In addition, the dimensional, optical and mechanical characterizations of optical grid components and the assembled PROSPECT target are also presented. The technical information and characterizations detailed here will inform geometry-related inputs for PROSPECT physics analysis, and can guide a variety of future particle detection development efforts, such as those using optically reflecting materials or filament-based 3D printing.