Neutrino Control of Reactors for the Implementation of the IAEA Safeguards Regarding Floating Nuclear Power Units

摘要

Abstract The operation of floating nuclear power units in nonnuclear-weapon states does not involve the management of fresh and used nuclear fuel, and the nuclear reactor of the power unit must be hermetically sealed in the manufacturing state. In relation to this, a challenging aspect of the application of the IAEA safeguards is the independent verification and confirmation of the state’s information regarding the declared operating modes of the nuclear power unit and the quality and quantity of nuclear fuel used to this end. The currently available technologies for detecting reactor antineutrinos are shown to be capable of providing the IAEA with independent control of a floating power unit reactor; a standalone mobile or stationary neutrino detector may be used to confirm the declared operating modes of the reactor and indirectly confirm the quantity and quality of nuclear material contained in the reactor.