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First Measurement of Neutrino Emissions from Spent Nuclear Fuel by the Double Chooz Experiment

T. Abrahão1,2, H. Almazan3,c, J. C. dos Anjos1, S. Appel4, J. C. Barriere5, I. Bekman6, T. J. C. Bezerra7,d, L. Bezrukov, E. Blucher8 et al. (Double Chooz Collaboration)

E. Blucher8, C. Bourgeois9, C. Buck3, J. Busenitz10, A. Cabrera2,9,11, M. Cerrada12, E. Chauveau13, P. Chimenti1,e, O. Corpace5, J. V. Dawson2, J. F. Du9,11, Z. Djurcic14, A. Etenko, H. Furuta15, I. Gil-Botella12, A. Givaudan2, H. Gomez2,5, M. C. Goodman14, T. Hara16, J. Haser3, D. Hellwig6, A. Hourlier2, M. Ishitsuka17,f, J. Jochum18, C. Jollet13, K. Kale13, M. Kaneda17, M. Karakac2, T. Kawasaki19, E. Kemp20, D. Kryn2, M. Kuze17, T. Lachenmaier18, C. E. Lane21, T. Lasserre2,5,3,a, D. Lhuillier5, H. P. Lima, Jr.1,g, M. Lindner3, J. M. LoSecco22, B. Lubsandorzhiev, J. Maeda23,16, C. Mariani24, J. Maricic21,h, J. Martino7, T. Matsubara23,i, G. Mention5, A. Meregaglia13, T. Miletic21,j, R. Milincic21, A. Minotti5, X. Mougeot25, D. Navas-Nicolás12,9, Y. Nikitenko6, P. Novella12,k, L. Oberauer4, M. Obolensky2, A. Onillon5,3,b, A. Oralbaev2, C. Palomares12, I. M. Pepe1, L. Perisse5,l, G. Pronost7,m, J. Reichenbacher10,n, S. Schönert4, S. Schoppmann3,o, L. Scola5, R. Sharankova17, V. Sibille5, V. Sinev, M. Skorokhvatov, P. Soldin6, A. Stahl6, I. Stancu10, M. R. Stock4, L. F. F. Stokes18, F. Suekane15, S. Sukhotin, T. Sumiyoshi23, C. Veyssiere5, B. Viaud7, M. Vivier5, S. Wagner2, C. Wiebusch6, G. Yang14,p, and F. Yermia7 (Double Chooz Collaboration)

  • 1Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22290-180, Brazil
  • 2APC, Université de Paris, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, F-75006, Paris
  • 3Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
  • 4Physik Department, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany
  • 5IRFU, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
  • 6III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany
  • 7Subatech, CNRS, Université de Nantes, IMT-Atlantique, 44307 Nantes, France
  • 8The Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 9IJC Laboratory, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France
  • 10Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, USA
  • 11LNCA Underground Laboratory, CNRS-CEA, Chooz, France
  • 12Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, CIEMAT 28040, Madrid, Spain
  • 13Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, LP2I, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France
  • 14Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 15Research Center for Neutrino Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
  • 16Department of Physics, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
  • 17Department of Physics, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
  • 18Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, Universität Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
  • 19Department of Physics, Kitasato University, Sagamihara 252-0373, Japan
  • 20Universidade Estadual de Campinas-UNICAMP, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil
  • 21Department of Physics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
  • 22University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
  • 23Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan
  • 24Center for Neutrino Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
  • 25Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, List, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel (LNE-LNHB), F-91120, Palaiseau, France

  • aContact author: thierry.lasserre@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • bContact author: anthony.onillon@mpi-hd.mpg.de
  • cPresent address: Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), BERC Basque Excellence Research Centre, Donostia, Spain.
  • dPresent address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, United Kingdom.
  • ePresent address: Universidade Estadual de Londrina, 86057-970 Londrina, Brazil.
  • fPresent address: Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba, Japan.
  • gPresent address: Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy.
  • hPresent address: Physics and Astronomy Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
  • iPresent address: High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
  • jPresent address: Physics Department, Arcadia University, Glenside, Pennsylvania 19038, USA.
  • kPresent address: Instituto de Física Corpuscular, IFIC (CSIC and UV), 46980 Paterna, Spain.
  • lPresent address: ILANCE, CNRS—University of Tokyo International Research Laboratory, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8582, Japan.
  • mPresent address: Kamioka Observatory, ICRR, University of Tokyo, Kamioka, Gifu 506-1205, Japan.
  • nPresent address: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701, USA.
  • oPresent address: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Detektorlabor, Exzellenzcluster PRISMA+, Mainz, Germany.
  • pPresent address: State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11755, USA.
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 061803 – Published 4 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/dr26-j19g

Abstract

Neutrino emission from nuclear reactors provides real-time insights into reactor power and fuel evolution, with potential applications in monitoring and nuclear safeguards. Following reactor shutdown, a low-intensity flux of “residual neutrinos” persists due to the decay of long-lived fission isotopes in the partially burnt fuel remaining within the reactor cores and in spent nuclear fuel stored in nearby cooling pools. The Double Chooz experiment at the Chooz B nuclear power plant in France achieved the first quantitative measurement of this residual flux based on 17.2 days of reactor-off data. In the energy range where the residual signal is most pronounced, the neutrino detector located 400 m from the cores recorded 106±18 neutrino candidate events (5.9σ significance). This measurement is in excellent agreement with the predicted value of 88±7 events derived from detailed reactor simulations modeling the decay activities of fission products and incorporating the best-available models of neutrino spectra.

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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

synopsis

Detecting the Illicit Removal of Nuclear Fuel

Published 4 August, 2026

Spent nuclear fuel and shutdown nuclear reactors emit antineutrinos, which nuclear watchdogs could use for real-time monitoring of plants.

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Article Text

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 061803– Published 4 August, 2026
  • Received 6 October 2025
  • Revised 22 April 2026
  • Accepted 1 June 2026
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