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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Slow control and monitoring system at the JSNS 2

The Sterile Neutrino Search at the J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source (JSNS$^2$) experiment aims to search for sterile neutrino oscillations using a neutrino beam from muon decays at rest. The JSNS$^2$ detector contains 17 tons of 0.1$\%$ gadolinium (Gd) loaded liquid scintillator (LS) as a neutrino target. Detector construction was completed in the spring of 2020. A slow control and monitoring system (SCMS) was implemented for reliable control and quick monitoring of the detector operational status and environmental conditions. It issues an alarm if any of the monitored parameters exceed a preset acceptable range. The SCMS monitors the high voltage of the photomultiplier tubes, the LS level in the detector, possible LS overflow and leakage, the temperature and air pressure in the detector, the humidity of the experimental hall, and the LS flow rate during filling and extraction. An initial 10 days of data-taking with a neutrino beam was done following a successful commissioning of the detector and SCMS in 2020 June. In this paper, we present a description of the assembly and installation of the SCMS and its performance.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Purity monitoring for ProtoDUNE

The next-generation neutrino experiment, DUNE, will utilize a high-intensity neutrino beam produced to measure electron-neutrino appearance and muon-neutrino disappearance with its 40 kilotons (fiducial mass) liquid argon far detector. Liquid argon purity is crucial to use liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPC) in DUNE’s large detectors. A purity monitor is a miniature TPC that measures the lifetime of photoelectrons generated by its UV-illuminated gold photocathode to measure the purity of liquid argon. ProtoDUNEs are full-scale DUNE prototype LArTPCs built at CERNand perform beam tests. The following will discuss the design, implementation, and results of liquid argon purity monitors deployed in ProtoDUNE.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Developing Low Noise, Rad-hard Detectors for Parity Violating Experiments

As parity-violating electron scattering (PVeS) experiments continue to push the frontiers of precision electro-weak asymmetry measurements, the demands on the experimental techniques and apparatus are also pushed. In particular, the need for higher resolution and radiation-hardness of the main integrating detectors has increased over the successive generations of PVeS experiments. The demand for precise measurement of GHz event rates has pushed the field toward the use of thin quartz Cerenkov light based detectors. We have been designing and testing such thin quartz detectors specifically for the upcoming experiments at Jefferson Lab, PREX-II and CREX, but this work also greatly influences the detector development for several future experiments including MOLLER at Jefferson Lab. These are all PVeS experiments that will use the new thin quartz Cerenkov detector design concept for their main asymmetry measurements (as well as for beam monitoring). The new design concept gives not only significant performance improvements compared to its predecessor from PREX-I, but also we have now thoroughly characterized its operational design and performance using a combination of test-beam data and detailed particle and optical Monte Carlo Geant4 simulations. These activities have culminated in the development and implementation of a "bench-marked" Monte Carlo package, QSIM, which constitutes a powerful design tool for present and future PVeS quartz detectors. The benchmarked simulation can replicate real photoelectron distributions (RMS and Mean) from testbeam data with ~5% precision – limited mainly by the systematic uncertainty of the PMT gain measurements.

Villarreal, Carlos Bula Villarreal↗
DOE OSTI2021

Purity monitoring for ProtoDUNE-SP

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment is a next-generation long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment based on liquid argon time projection chamber technology. DUNE-s single-phase prototype ProtoDUNE-SP at CERN finished its two-year Phase-1 running in July 2021, successfully collected test-beam and cosmic ray data. A key aspect of LArTPC calibration is the lifetime of drift electrons. A purity monitor is a miniature TPC measuring the lifetime of electrons generated from the photocathode via the photoelectric effect. It enables continuous monitoring of the detector status, especially when filling the cryostat and when liquid argon recirculation systems operate. The purity monitoring system in ProtoDUNE-SP Phase-1 monitored liquid argon purity throughout its entire lifetime. It is essential to the experiment’s successful commissioning, operation, and data taking. This poster discusses the design, implementation, and results of purity monitors and plans.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Time Projection Chambers instrumented with resistive MicroMegas for the SAND near detector of DUNE

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation long-baseline neutrino accelerator experiment aiming for precise measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters. DUNE will include a near detector complex regrouping three different detectors among which SAND (System for on-Axis Neutrino Detection) that will be the only one permanently on the neutrino beam axis in charge of monitoring in detail the emitted neutrino beam and its stability through time, a crucial characteristic to realize accurate oscillation measurements at the percent level. SAND will reuse the superconducting magnet and the electromagnetic calorimeter of the KLOE experiment. We will describe in the following the proposal of using, as inner tracker of SAND, a large 3D matrix of 1.5cm side scintillator cubes (3DST) surrounded by 3 gaseous Time Projection Chambers. This setup allows to realize accurate beam monitoring combining the 3DST unprecedented capability of neutron detection and energy measurement with the high precision momentum resolution for charged particles offered by the TPCs. The proposed TPC design allows to reach spatial resolutions of a few hundreds of micrometers using 1 cm pads by deploying the resistive MicroMegas technology for the charge readout.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Call to Arms Control: Synergies between Nonproliferation Applications of Neutrino Detectors and Large-Scale Fundamental Neutrino Physics Experiments (A Snowmass White Paper)

The High Energy Physics community can benefit from a natural synergy in research activities into next-generation large-scale water and scintillator neutrino detectors, now being studied for remote reactor monitoring, discovery and exclusion applications in cooperative nonproliferation contexts. Since approximately 2010, US nonproliferation researchers, supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), have been studying a range of possible applications of relatively large (100 ton) to very large (hundreds of kiloton) water and scintillator neutrino detectors. In parallel, the fundamental physics community has been developing detectors at similar scales and with similar design features for a range of high-priority physics topics, primarily in fundamental neutrino physics. These topics include neutrino oscillation studies at beams and reactors, solar, and geological neutrino measurements, supernova studies, and others. Examples of ongoing synergistic work at U.S. national laboratories and universities include prototype gadolinium-doped water and water-based and opaque scintillator test-beds and demonstrators, extensive testing and industry partnerships related to large area fast position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes, and the development of concepts for a possible underground kiloton-scale water-based detector for reactor monitoring and technology demonstrations. Some opportunities for engagement between the two communities include bi-annual Applied Antineutrino Physics conferences, collaboration with U.S. National Laboratories engaging in this research, and occasional NNSA funding opportunities supporting a blend of nonproliferation and basic science R&D, directed at the U.S. academic community.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Upgrades to the TRIUMF Fast Ion Counter, TRIFIC

TRIFIC, the TRIUMF Fast Ion Counter, is a downstream ionization chamber which provides beam composition monitoring and recoil tagging for in-beam reaction experiments. TRIFIC has been commissioned and deployed for use with radioactive isotope beams at the TRIUMF-ISAC facility. Recently, the detector has been upgraded to include an improved gas window that can accommodate higher beam rates and position-sensitive electrode grids for better position reconstruction.

Gaseous detectors↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quantity of 135I Released from the AGR 5/6/7 Experiment

A series of four Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) experiments have been conducted in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). From 2006 through 2020, these experiments supported the development and qualification of the new U.S. tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel for Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTR). Each Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) experiment consisted of multiple fueled capsules, each plumbed for independent temperature control using a mix of helium and neon gases. The gas leaving a capsule was routed to individual Fission Product Monitor (FPM) detectors. For intact fuel particles, the TRISO particle coatings provide a substantial barrier to fission product release. However, particles with failed coatings, whether because of a minute percentage of initially defective particles, those which fail during irradiation, or those designed to fail (DTF) particles, can release fission products to the flowing gas stream. Because reactive fission product elements like iodine and cesium quickly deposit on cooler capsule components and piping structures as the effluent gas leaves the reactor core, only the noble fission gas isotopes of Kr and Xe tend to reach FPM detectors. The FPM system utilizes High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors coupled with a thallium activated sodium iodide NaI(Tl) scintillator. The HPGe detector provides individual isotopic information, while the NaI(Tl) scintillator is used as a gross count rate meter. During irradiation, the 135mXe concentration reaching the FPM detectors is from both direct fission and by decay of the accumulated 135I. About 2.5 hours after irradiation (ten 15.3 minute 135mXe half lives) the directly produced 135mXe has decayed and only the longer lived 135I remains as a source. Decay systematics dictate that 135mXe will be in secular equilibrium with its 135I parent, such that its production rate very nearly equals the decay rate of the parent, and its concentration in the flowing gas stream will appear to decay with the parent half life. This equilibrium condition enables the determination of the amount of 135I released from the fuel particles by measurement of the 135mXe at the FPM following reactor shutdown. In this paper, the 135I released will be reported.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nuclear Data to Reduce Uncertainties in Reactor Antineutrino Measurements

The large quantities of antineutrinos produced through the decay of fission fragments in nuclear reactors provide an opportunity to study the properties of these particles and investigate their use in reactor monitoring. The reactor antineutrino spectra are measured using specialized, large area detectors that detect antineutrinos through inverse beta decay, electron elastic scattering, or coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering; although, inverse beta decay is the only demonstrated method so far. Reactor monitoring takes advantage of the differences in the antineutrino yield and spectra resulting from uranium and plutonium fission providing an opportunity to estimate the fissile material composition in the reactor. Recent experiments reveal a deviation between the measured and calculated antineutrino flux and spectra (the reactor anomaly) indicating either the existence of yet undiscovered neutrino physics, uncertainties in the reactor source term calculation, incorrect nuclear data, or a combination of all three. To address the nuclear data that impact the antineutrino spectrum calculations and measurements, an international group of over 180 experts in antineutrino physics, reactor analysis, detector development, and nuclear data came together during the Workshop on Nuclear Data for Reactor Antineutrino Measurements (WoNDRAM) to discuss nuclear data needs and achieve concordance on a set of recommended priorities for nuclear data improvements. Three topical sessions focused on the reactor source term, the antineutrino spectrum, and the detector response, provided a forum to gain consensus amongst the participants on the most important data improvements to address two goals: 1) understand the reactor anomaly and 2) improve the ability to monitor reactors using antineutrinos. This report summarizes the outcomes of the workshop discussions and the recommendations for nuclear data efforts that reduce reactor antineutrino measurement uncertainties.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Precision measurement of relative γ-ray intensities from the decay of 61Cu

A discrepancy, well outside reported uncertainties, has been observed between the accepted and measured values of the intensity ratio of the two strongest γ-ray following 61 Cu β + decay. This discrepancy has significant impact since the nat Ni(d,x) 61 Cu reaction has historically been one of only a few IAEA recommendations for use as a deuteron flux monitor and a considerable number of published cross sections measured in ratio to that beam monitor cross section may depend on the choice of either the first or second strongest ray in those calculations. To determine the magnitude of this error most precisely, over a hundred separate measurements of the 283 keV to 656 keV γ-ray emission ratio were collected from seven experiments and a variety of detectors and detection geometries. A weighted average of all these measurements indicates an error in the value listed in the Nuclear Data Sheets of 11% in either the primary or second-highest intensity γ-ray of 61 Cu, potentially introducing an 11% error in 61 Cu production cross section measurements, cross sections using nickel activation as a deuteron beam current monitor, or in dose rates when 61 Cu is used in nuclear medicine. General agreement with the Data Sheets with ten other intensity ratios suggests the most probable error is in the secondary (656 keV) emission, which accordingly should be updated from 10.8% to 9.69%.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gamma-ray Spectroscopy in Low-Power Nuclear Research Reactors

Gamma-ray spectroscopy is an effective technique for radioactive material characterization, routine inventory verification, nuclear safeguards, health physics, and source search scenarios. Gamma-ray spectrometers typically cannot be operated in the immediate vicinity of nuclear reactors due to their high flux fields and their resulting inability to resolve individual pulses. Low-power reactor facilities offer the possibility to study reactor gamma-ray fields, a domain of experiments hitherto poorly explored. In this work, we present gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments performed with various detectors in two reactors: The EPFL zero-power research reactor CROCUS, and the neutron beam facility at the Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR). We employed inorganic scintillators (CeBr3), organic scintillators (trans-stilbene and organic glass), and high-purity germanium semiconductors (HPGe) to cover a range of typical—and new—instruments used in gamma-ray spectroscopy. The aim of this study is to provide a guideline for reactor users regarding detector performance, observed responses, and therefore available information in the reactor photon fields up to 2 MeV. The results indicate several future prospects, such as the online (at criticality) monitoring of fission products (like Xe, I, and La), dual-particle sensitive experiments, and code validation opportunities.

Pakari, Oskari V. (ORCID:0000000337048190)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Diagnostic Systems in the Muon $g-2$ experiment at Fermilab

The muon anomalous magnetic moment, $a_\mu=\frac{g-2}{2}$, is a low-energy observable which can be both measured and computed to high precision, making it a sensitive test of the Standard Model and a probe for new physics. This anomaly was measured with a precision of $0.20$~parts per million (ppm) by the Fermilab's Muon g-2 (E989) experiment. The final goal of the E989 experiment is to reach a precision of $0.14$~ppm. The experiment is based on the measurement of the muon spin anomalous precession frequency, $\omega_a$, based on the arrival time distribution of high-energy decay positrons observed by 24 electromagnetic calorimeters, placed around the inner circumference of a $14$~m diameter storage ring, and on the precise knowledge of the storage ring magnetic field and of the beam time and space distribution. Achieving this level of precision requires strict control over systematics, which is ensured through several diagnostic devices. At the accelerator level, these devices monitor the quality of the injected beam (e.g., verifying that it has the correct momentum), while at the detector level, they track both the magnetic field and the gain of the calorimeters. In this work the devices and techniques used by the E989 experiment will be presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Studies on the scintillation light detection in the ProtoDUNE Dual Phase liquid-argon TPC and its capability for the supernova trigger in DUNE

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment that aims at addressing key questions in neutrino physics in the next decades. Its scientific program includes the detection of the neutrino flux from a core-collapse supernova. The DUNE far detector will have four 17-kt mass liquid-argon (LAr) time-projection chamber (TPC) modules. ProtoDUNE Dual Phase (DP), a dual-phase LAr TPC with 300 t of active mass and 6 m of drift distance, was operated with cosmic muons in 2019-2020 as part of an R&D program at the CERN Neutrino Platform to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology at such a large scale. In a LAr TPC, the photon detection system (PDS) provides fundamental timing information and trigger capabilities. The PDS of ProtoDUNE-DP, which consisted of 36 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), counted on a dedicated light calibration system (LCS) to monitor the PMT response. In this dissertation, the characterization and validation of the ProtoDUNE-DP PDS and LCS components before their installation will be reviewed, highlighting the results of general interest for experiments that use liquid noble gasses as target medium. The results from the stable performance of both systems in the detector during 15 months will be presented next as well as the studies on the scintillation light detection in ProtoDUNE-DP, where the collection of light produced in LAr at 7 m from the photosensors has been achieved for the first time. It is worth pointing out that the excellent LAr purity and the large size of the detector have enabled to develop a unique data-driven investigation on aspects that are critical for LAr-based experiments but that are not completely understood. The analyses cover the characterization of the low-energy background detected by the PDS, the quantification of the electric field impact on the light yield, the evaluation of the Rayleigh scattering affecting the light propagation, and the analysis of the PMT detection efficiency. The effect of the VUV reflectivity of the detector materials will be also discussed. In addition, the estimation of the cosmic muon flux crossing the TPC and the study of the observed light yield by the PDS will be reported. Finally, the results from the simulation-based study of the supernova burst trigger capability with the PDS of a 12.1-kt active mass dual-phase LAr TPC as the one proposed for DUNE will be summarized. Several configurations of reflective foils installed in the TPC to enhance the light collection will be compared.

Gallego Ros, Ana↗
DOE OSTI2024

Enhancements and Deployment of the TDAQ System for the Mu2e Experiment

The Real Time Processing Systems Division at Fermilab has deployed new features to the Off-The-Shelf Data Acquisition framework (otsdaq) for the Mu2e experiment. The Mu2e experiment will search for the coherent neutrino-less conversion of a muon into an electron in the field of an aluminum nucleus with a sensitivity improvement of 10,000 times over existing limits. Such a charged lepton flavor-violating reaction probes new physics at a scale unavailable at present or planned high-energy colliders. The Mu2e Trigger and Data Acquisition (TDAQ) system uses otsdaq as its online Data Acquisition System (DAQ) framework. otsdaq integrates the artdaq and art frameworks for event transfer, filtering, and processing. otsdaq is a web-based DAQ software suite focusing on flexibility and scalability and provides a multi-user interface accessible through a web browser. artdaq handles the entire data stream, which is read over the peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) bus to a software filter algorithm that selects events combined with the data flux coming from a cosmic-ray veto (CRV) system. Detector front-ends are configured through the PCIe bus by customized otsdaq plugins. The otsdaq slow controls infrastructure has been further developed using the experimental physics and industrial control system (EPICS) open-source platform for monitoring, controlling, alarming, and archiving. The detector control system (DCS) for Mu2e has been integrated into otsdaq. The production TDAQ and DCS system has been deployed at the experimental hall and is being debugged and optimized for experiment operations. We report on the feature enhancements and deployment of otsdaq for Mu2e.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

A novel liquid argon purity monitor based on 207 Bi

A novel liquid argon purity monitor based on a 207 Bi radioactive source, emitting monochromatic internal-conversion electrons, is presented. This new monitor allows for a very precise and fast measurement of the electronegative impurities concentration in liquid argon. It can be operated continuously in liquid argon TPC experiments without interfering with the main detector operation. Different drift lengths can be assembled for the proposed device, to assess a large range of liquid argon purities while minimizing systematic uncertainties. Two prototypes have been built and successfully operated in dedicated test stands. The results and performance are reported.

double-phase↗
DOE OSTI2025

Spectroscopic Online Monitoring: Using a Multi-Track Visible Spectrometer to Facilitate a Mass Balance Study in a Simulated TALSPEAK Process

Nuclear energy is a promising low-carbon energy candidate to meet the increased demand for green energy, where the integration of fuel recycling can have significant benefits for material usage and waste reduction. Utilizing in situ monitoring tools can provide ample opportunities to better control and safeguard nuclear material recycle processes while also offering knowledge and insight into real-time solution properties. The simultaneous measurement of analytical targets in multiple process locations can enable real-time mass balance and material accountancy calculations. This is demonstrated here with a mass balance study of Nd 3+ on countercurrent aqueous/organic metal extraction within a single centrifugal contactor. The Nd 3+ concentration was simultaneously monitored at the inlets and outlets of both aqueous and organic phases using a visible absorbance detector that allowed for the simultaneous measurement of up to six locations. The Nd 3+ concentration was calculated by using chemical data science algorithms, where model training sets were collected on a single track of the detector. The discussion includes addressing the challenges of using a model collected on a single track and applying it as a model across the other tracks on the detector. Each track of the detector corresponds to one measurement location on the contactor. The difference in the integrated moles of Nd 3+ between the inlet and outlet at the end of the experiment was near zero, indicating that the mass balance of this experiment was maintained. Overall, the online spectroscopic monitoring was able to follow changing solution conditions and accurately measure the concentration of Nd 3+ in different locations within the contactor system.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Beam-induced backgrounds measured in the ATLAS detector during local gas injection into the LHC beam vacuum

Inelastic beam-gas collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), within a few hundred metres of the ATLAS experiment, are known to give the dominant contribution to beam backgrounds. These are monitored by ATLAS with a dedicated Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM) and with the rate of fake jets in the calorimeters. These two methods are complementary since the BCM probes backgrounds just around the beam pipe while fake jets are observed at radii of up to several metres. In order to quantify the correlation between the residual gas density in the LHC beam vacuum and the experimental backgrounds recorded by ATLAS, several dedicated tests were performed during LHC Run 2. Local pressure bumps, with a gas density several orders of magnitude higher than during normal operation, were introduced at different locations. The changes of beam-related backgrounds, seen in ATLAS, are correlated with the local pressure variation. In addition the rates of beam-gas events are estimated from the pressure measurements and pressure bump profiles obtained from calculations. Using these rates, the efficiency of the ATLAS beam background monitors to detect beam-gas events is derived as a function of distance from the interaction point. These efficiencies and characteristic distributions of fake jets from the beam backgrounds are found to be in good agreement with results of beam-gas simulations performed with theFluka Monte Carlo programme.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Study of Heavy Flavor Mesons and Flavor-Tagged Jets with the CMS Detector

The goal of this research program is to implement heavy flavor meson triggers in heavy-ion collisions for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, including algorithm design, timing studies, offline validation, and online performance monitoring. The physics analyses which can be achieved by data from these new triggers is to address one of the most important questions in the field: parton flavor dependence of jet-quenching for the understanding of the transport properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma. This program will allow CMS to collect the highest statistics heavy flavor meson and jet data ever recorded in heavy-ion colliders. The program includes two objectives: (1) Build and maintain the heavy flavor meson and jet triggers for heavy-ion collisions and deploy the trigger algorithms for 2015-2018 PbPb and pPb run at the LHC; (2) Perform heavy flavor meson and jet physics analyses, which can be used to study the parton flavor dependence of jet quenching, to extract the elastic energy loss coefficient of the QGP, and to test whether massive quarks also participate in collective expansion dynamics in heavy-ion collisions. With the heavy flavor physics trigger developed in this project, a competitive heavy flavor physics program in heavy-ion collisions has been established in CMS. This program allows studies of the fully reconstructed and flavor identified charm, beauty, and exotic hadrons that cover the widest transverse momentum range. The novel measurements supported by the award provide new constraints on the size of the flavor dependence of parton energy loss, the value of the in-medium charm quark diffusion coefficient, the mechanism of charm and beauty quark hadronization, and provide new insights to the nature of the X(3872) hadron.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗