with a tiny detector. These particles are extremely hard to catch because they interact so rarely with matter, but power reactors are one of the few places on Earth with a high concentration of them.
The technique may also be useful in nuclear nonproliferation, because the neutrinos can tell scientists about what's going on in the core of the reactor. Detectors could be placed next to reactors as a safeguard to monitor whether the reactor is being used for energy production or to make weapons.Neutrinos are sometimes called"ghost particles" because they pass invisibly through almost all matter.
However, there's a problem. Because neutrinos are so lightweight, and interact so rarely, scientists normally have to find them by filling an enormous tank with detecting fluids and then search for the telltale signal that a passing particle has produced one of a number of known reactions in it. Previously, Collar and his team had tested their tiny detectors at a particle accelerator in Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where they were able to carefully control much of the environment in order to get a good signal. But in order for the detector to work at Dresden, they had to build a new version adapted to deal with the much noisier environment of an operating commercial reactor.
The knowledge about operating small detectors in such noisy environments is also in high demand."There is an interest in the nuclear nonproliferation community to set detectors next to reactors, because they can tell you what's going on in the core—revealing any deviations from the declared use," Collar said.is burning and what it's producing, so detectors should be able to monitor for warning signs of weapons production, or whether fuel is being secretly diverted elsewhere .