The SOX experiment in the neutrino physics

SOX (Short distance neutrino Oscillations with BoreXino) is a new experiment that takes place at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) and it exploits the Borexino detector to study the neutrino oscillations at short distance. In different phases, by using two artificial sources Cr-51 and Ce-144-Pr-144, neutrino and antineutrino fluxes of measured intensity will be detected by Borexino in order to observe possible neutrino oscillations in the sterile state. In this paper an overview of the experiment is given and one of the two calorimeters that will be used to measure the source activity is described. At the end the expected sensitivity to determine the neutrino sterile mass is shown

Characterizations with the MARS beamline (synchrotron SOLEIL) of materials irradiated in nuclear reactors

International audienceMARS (Multi-Analyses on Radioactive Samples) is the X-ray bending magnet beamline of the French synchrotron facility SOLEIL dedicated to the study of radioactive matter. The MARS beamline aims at extending the possibilities of synchrotron based X-ray characterizations towards a wider variety of radioactive elements (et61537;et61484;et61472;et61538;et61484;et61472;et61543; and n emitters). Thus, its specific and innovative infrastructure has been optimized to carry out analyses on radioactive materials with activities up to 18.5 GBq per sample. This beamline, which has been built thanks to a close partnership and support by the CEA, has been designed to provide X-rays in the energy range of 3.5 keV to 35 keV. Three main techniques are progressively proposed on MARS beamline transmission and high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction (respectively T-XRD and HR-XRD), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF).After the preliminary experiences performed on un-irradiated samples, this presentation deals with recent results obtained on the MARS beamline, thanks to very powerful and useful improvements brought to the experimental set-up of the beamline and to various materials irradiated in nuclear reactors Oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steels at high doses and also Zr based alloys irradiated in Pressurized Water Reactors up to 7 PWR cycles.Results concerning secondary phases evolutions as a function of irradiation doses for both ODS and Zr based alloys will be presented using XRD, but also experiences using XAS especially on ODS will be given.Finally, future prospects and main objectives concerning the evolution of the beamline and studies on irradiated materials will be discussed

Development of the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead blanket for DEMO

International audiencehe Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) blanket is one of the candidate European blanket concepts selected for the DEMOnstration fusion power plant that should follow ITER. In a fusion power plant, the blanket is one of the key components because of its impact on the plant performance, availability, safety and economics. In 2012, the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA) agency issued new specifications for DEMO: this paper describes the work performed to adapt the previous 2007 HCLL-DEMO blanket design to those specifications.A new segmentation has been defined assuming straight surfaces for all blanket modules. Following the Multi Module Segment (MMS) option, all modules are attached to a common back supporting structure which also serves as manifold for Helium and PbLi distribution. A detailed CAD design of the central outboard module has been defined. Thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical analyses on of the First Wall and Breeder Zone have been carried out. For the attachment of the modules to the common backplate, a new solution based on the use of Tie Rods, derived from the design of the corresponding HCLL Test Blanket Module for ITER, has been proposed. This paper also identifies the priorities for further development of the HCLL blanket design

Development of the water cooled lithium lead blanket for DEMO

The water cooled lithium lead (WCLL) blanket, based on near-future technology requiring small extrapolation from present-day knowledge both on physical and technological aspect, is one of the breeding blanket concepts considered as possible candidates for the EU DEMOnstration power plant.In 2012, the EFDA agency issued new specifications for DEMO: this paper describes the work performed to adapt the WCLL blanket design to those specifications.Relatively small modules with straight surfaces are attached to a common Back Supporting Structure housing feeding pipes. Each module features reduced activation ferritic-martensitic steel as structural material, liquid Lithium-Lead as breeder, neutron multiplier and carrier. Water at typical Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) conditions is chosen as coolant.A preliminary design of the equatorial outboard module has been achieved. Finite elements analyses have been carried out in order to assess the module thermal behavior. Two First Wall (FW) concepts have been proposed, one favoring the thermal efficiency, the other favoring the manufacturability. The Breeding Zone has been designed with C-shaped Double-Walled Tubes in order to minimize the Water/Pb-15.7Li interaction likelihood.The priorities for further development of the WCLL blanket concept are identified in the paper

Short distance neutrino oscillations with Borexino

International audienceThe Borexino detector has convincingly shown its outstanding performances in the low energy, sub-MeV regime through its unprecedented accomplishments in the solar and geo-neutrinos detection. These performances make it the ideal tool to accomplish a state-of-the-art experiment able to test unambiguously the long-standing issue of the existence of a sterile neutrino, as suggested by the several anomalous results accumulated over the past two decades, i.e. the outputs of the LSND and Miniboone experiments, the results of the source calibration of the two Gallium solar neutrino experiments, and the recently hinted reactor anomaly. The SOX project will exploit two sources, based on Chromium and Cerium, respectively, which deployed under the experiment, in a location foreseen on purpose at the time of the construction of the detector, will emit two intense beams of neutrinos (Cr) and anti-neutrinos (Ce). Interacting in the active volume of the liquid scintillator, each beam would create an unmistakable spatial wave pattern in case of oscillation of the nu_e (or nu̅_e) into the sterile state: such a pattern would be the smoking gun proving the existence of the new sterile member of the neutrino family. Otherwise, its absence will allow setting a very stringent limit on its existence

Short distance neutrino oscillations with Borexino

The Borexino detector has convincingly shown its outstanding performances in the low energy, sub-MeV regime through its unprecedented accomplishments in the solar and geo-neutrinos detection. These performances make it the ideal tool to accomplish a state-of-the-art experiment able to test unambiguously the long-standing issue of the existence of a sterile neutrino, as suggested by the several anomalous results accumulated over the past two decades, i.e. the outputs of the LSND and Miniboone experiments, the results of the source calibration of the two Gallium solar neutrino experiments, and the recently hinted reactor anomaly. The SOX project will exploit two sources, based on Chromium and Cerium, respectively, which deployed under the experiment, in a location foreseen on purpose at the time of the construction of the detector, will emit two intense beams of neutrinos (Cr) and anti-neutrinos (Ce). Interacting in the active volume of the liquid scintillator, each beam would create an unmistakable spatial wave pattern in case of oscillation of the νe (or ν̅e) into the sterile state: such a pattern would be the smoking gun proving the existence of the new sterile member of the neutrino family. Otherwise, its absence will allow setting a very stringent limit on its existence

The SOX experiment hunts the sterile neutrino

The SOX (Short distance neutrino Oscillations with BoreXino) experiment aims to perform a resolutive measurement for testing the longstanding hypotesis of a sterile neutrino in the eV2 mass scale. A very intense and well calibrated 144Ce−144 Pr antineutrino source will be placed under the large size and very low background Borexino detector at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. Borexino demonstrated a such energy and position resolution that the disappearance experiment can be performed and the short distance oscillations might be directly observed. In this paper an overview of the key elements of the experiment is given and the expected sensitivity to determine the sterile neutrino mass is shown

SOX: Neutrino oscillometry in Borexino

© Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Licence. Several observed anomalies in the neutrino sector could be explained by a fourth (sterile) neutrino with a squared mass difference in the order of 1eV2 to the other three standard neutrinos. This hypothesis can be tested with an artificial kCi antineutrino (Ce-144/Pr-144) source deployed near or inside a large low background detector like Borexino. The SOX project (short baseline neutrino oscillation with Borexino) aims for the detection of sterile neutrinos and offers the almost unique possibility to observe the characteristic antineutrino oscillation pattern within the detector. The concept is summarized whereby particular focus is given to the antineutrino spectrum calculation

SOX: Short Distance Neutrino Oscillations with Borexino

International audienceThe Borexino detector has convincingly shown its outstanding performance in the in the sub-MeV regime through its unprecedented accomplishments in the solar and geo-neutrinos detection, which make it the ideal tool to unambiguously test the long-standing issue of the existence of a sterile neutrino, as suggested by several anomalies: the outputs of the LSND and Miniboone experiments, the results of the source calibration of the two Gallium solar ν experiments, and the recently hinted reactor anomaly. The SOX project will exploit two sources, based on chromium and cerium, which deployed under the experiment will emit two intense beams of νe (Cr) and νe‾ (Ce). Interacting in the active volume of the liquid scintillator, each beam would create a spatial wave pattern in case of oscillation of the νe (or νe‾ ) into the sterile state, which would be the smoking gun proving the existence of the new sterile member of the neutrino family. Otherwise, its absence will allow setting very stringent limit on its existence

SOX: Short Distance Neutrino Oscillations with Borexino

The Borexino detector has convincingly shown its outstanding performance in the in the sub-MeV regime through its unprecedented accomplishments in the solar and geo-neutrinos detection, which make it the ideal tool to unambiguously test the long-standing issue of the existence of a sterile neutrino, as suggested by several anomalies: the outputs of the LSND and Miniboone experiments, the results of the source calibration of the two Gallium solar ν experiments, and the recently hinted reactor anomaly. The SOX project will exploit two sources, based on chromium and cerium, which deployed under the experiment will emit two intense beams of (Cr) and (Ce). Interacting in the active volume of the liquid scintillator, each beam would create a spatial wave pattern in case of oscillation of the (or ) into the sterile state, which would be the smoking gun proving the existence of the new sterile member of the neutrino family. Otherwise, its absence will allow setting very stringent limit on its existence