Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2011
Volume 56, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 30–May 3 2011; Anaheim, California
Session Q13: International Physics |
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Sponsoring Units: FIP Room: Royal EF |
Monday, May 2, 2011 10:45AM - 10:57AM |
Q13.00001: Monitoring Reactor Antineutrino Flux for Nonproliferation Fangfei Shen, Christopher Jones, Gregory Keefer, Lindley Winslow, Zelimir Djurcic, Adam Bernstein, Janet Conrad Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the International Atomic Energy Agency has installed nuclear safeguard systems to monitor reactors. These systems, while effective, lack certain attractive features: they cannot provide real-time monitoring of reactor activities and some of them interfere with reactor operations. Antineutrino detectors can provide a continuous, real-time, and less intrusive method for monitoring reactors. This proposed safeguards system, tested at reactors in Russia and the United States, spins off from antineutrino experiments, many of which use reactors to produce antineutrinos. Monitoring antineutrino flux can detect illicit activities in reactors, such as the diversion of plutonium. Sensitivity to changes in fissile content in a few months using only antineutrino data has been demonstrated at the level of 70 kg of plutonium with $>$99{\%} confidence. As part of the monitoring technique, it is useful to have accurate predictions of the evolving antineutrino flux that results from reactor fuel burnup. Simulations predicting the evolution are being developed and tested in present antineutrino reactor experiments. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 10:57AM - 11:09AM |
Q13.00002: Cooperative Monitoring of Reactors with Antineutrino Detectors Gregory Keefer LLNL and SNL have been exploiting the unique characteristics of reactor antineutrinos for nearly a decade in an effort to develop an independent means of monitoring fissile material diversion for reactor safeguard programs. The current capabilities of antineutrino detectors used in a non-proliferation regime are such that the operational status, power levels and fissile content of the nuclear reactor can be determined in real-time. These experiments were performed at stand-off distances of a few tens of meters. In the last few years, the International Atomic Energy Agency has begun to consider the potential of this technology for its reactor safeguards regime. In this talk, I describe the state of the art for this application, and emphasize the natural overlap with ongoing efforts in fundamental physics to measure the oscillations of antineutrinos using nuclear reactors as sources. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 11:09AM - 11:21AM |
Q13.00003: Nuclear Reactor Monitoring With an Above Ground Antineutrino Detector Timothy Classen Technology to detect $\bar{\nu_e}$'s emitted from nuclear reactors has existed for more than 50 years. This technology has been used in a range of experiments probing the neutrino parameter space. A continuing effort has been made at LLNL to test whether this technology may be used for a more practical purpose, the monitoring of nuclear reactors with a focus on safeguarding dangerous nuclear materials. As part of this role a new detector is being developed for deployment above ground at the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station in New Brunswick Canada. The detector will observe a reactor core through a full start-up phase, to determine how well it can measure changes in nuclear fuel composition. This talk will focus on the challenges of the experiment, and how the techniques of fundamental neutrino research may be used to overcome them. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 11:21AM - 11:33AM |
Q13.00004: Collaborations in Underground Laboratories Joseph S.Y. Wang There are programs between underground physics labs into other studies. The Gran Sasso with large halls and dedicated tunnels in Italy and the Canfranc with newly completed space in Spain have geodynamic experiments (A. Bettini communication, 2011). The Low Noise Underground Lab (LSBB of Rustrel-pays d'Apt) converted a former French missiles launching command center to house a SQUID shielded electromagnetically above 10 Hz for global ionosphere and earthquake observations (G. Waysand et al. 2010). The China JingPing Lab has new physics room and tunnels excavated under 2.5 km overburden with rock mechanic changes evaluated (X. Feng, 2011). These are examples associated with tunnels through mountain ranges. In North America, we have Canada's SNO in an active mine with new space and the U.S. effort for reentry into the abandoned Homestake mine levels for physics and bio-geo-engineering studies. We also have underground research labs dedicated to nuclear waste research in Sweden, Switzerland, France, Germany, and candidate sites in Japan and China. All these underground labs are engaging in international collaborations to develop inter-disciplinary studies. The linkage/networking with International Physics is pursued. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 11:33AM - 11:45AM |
Q13.00005: From bilateral to multi-countries cooperation Paul Gueye In 2010, the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy in Washington DC provided seed funding to enable a new scientific collaboration between the US and France. The work primarily focuses on the understanding of the interaction of particles with the DNA. The National Society of Black Physicists managed the funds. This so-called G4TRAP work is an extension of the ESA-funded G4DNA project that uses the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit and is spearheaded by the University of Bordeaux 1 in France. This initiative spawns to new areas (ultrafast lasers, nuclear/high energy physics, radiation biology and space science) and includes US industries, thanks to the interdisciplinary activities needed to advance this project. In addition, the bi-lateral collaboration was expanded to two other countries: Canada and Senegal. Subsequent funding requests were made to US agencies (NSF and DoE) as well as other French programs. More are anticipated that will also include NIH, NASA and the Canadian programs. A review of this multidisciplinary effort will be presented along with the present status on the various aspects of the G4TRAP project. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 11:45AM - 11:57AM |
Q13.00006: Fostering international physics cooperation in the Middle-East James Vary, Galileo Violini Opportunities to foster both scientific progress and the development of long-term productive relations in the Middle-East region could benefit from participation by international organizations and sponsors. However, the conditions for success are especially challenging due to both political barriers and economic imbalances. We will share some personal experiences on these conditions and suggestions for advancing existing initiatives as well as proposals for new initiatives. Key elements include mechanisms for developing bi-lateral or even regional consensus on important physics projects/programs, acceptable support mechanisms and appropriate/valuable roles for individuals, organizations and governments outside the region. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 11:57AM - 12:09PM |
Q13.00007: South Asian Physics Foundation Jessica Hirschfelder, Vidhya Ramachandran The South Asian Physics Foundation is a new US-based nonprofit organization supporting international collaboration in physics research and education in South Asia. We discuss the highlights of our unique Professor Faheem Hussain Student Conference Program, launched in 2009 as our first initiative. This program provides funding for South Asian physics students to give a presentation at a scientific conference in a South Asian country other than that of their university or citizenship. During the program's first year we funded one student from Bangladesh to attend a conference in India, and during it's second year we funded eight students to attend two different conferences. Our expanding activities underscore a need for facilitating such exchanges in developing regions of the world. We discuss issues related to offering this type of program as well as the challenges and satisfactions of implementing programs that foster regional scientific cooperation. We also solicit suggestions and ideas for further developing and broadening our activities. SAPF's website is www.southasianphysicsfoundation.org. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, May 2, 2011 12:09PM - 12:21PM |
Q13.00008: The Rainbow School of Fundamental Physics and its Applications Christine Darve, Bobby S. Acharya, Ketevi A. Assamagan, Jonathan R. Ellis, Steve Muanza We have established a biennial school of physics in Africa, on fundamental subatomic physics and its applications. The ``raison d'\^{e}tre'' of the school is to build capacity to harvest, interpret, and exploit the results of current and future physics experiments with particle accelerators, and to increase proficiency in related applications. The school is based on a close interplay between theoretical, experimental, and applied physics. The first school took place in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 1-21 August 2010, with the general aim of fostering sciences in Africa. 65 students were selected to participate to this first school edition in the rainbow country. More than 50~of them had travelled from 17 African countries, fully supported financially to attend the intensive, three-week school. This project was supported by 15 different national {\&} international organizations and institutes. We propose the second edition of the biennial school in Ghana in 2012. The inspirational enthusiasm of the students and supporting institutions at ASP2010, give a shining hope that international Programs, Collaborations and Exchanges for the future of fundamental science and technology can be achieved. We will describe the process and the accomplishments of the first school edition, with emphasize on the lessons learned to establish the future editions. [Preview Abstract] |
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