Speaker
Description
Following decades of independent experimental development, detectors exploiting the useful physical properties of xenon have emerged as leading tools to search for hypothesized physics: WIMP dark matter and Majorana neutrinos.
As current xenon-based experiments approach the end of their operational lifetimes, plans for future detectors with substantially greater exposure are being developed. Achieving such exposure requires correspondingly larger xenon target masses. Among the many challenges associated with constructing a tonne-scale xenon detector, the acquisition of xenon itself is paramount. The requirement for tonnes (even kilotonnes) of xenon drives up the cost of these experiments and makes their development susceptible to the waverings of a limited market of atmospheric xenon.
An alternative source of xenon could be found in used nuclear fuel (UNF). Xenon is the single most dominant fission product and is present in UNF at concentrations thousands of times greater than in the atmosphere. Canada’s fleet of CANDU reactors has been accumulating UNF inventory for over half a century. In this talk, I will discuss the possibility of tapping into this resource and what potential steps may be required.
| Keyword-1 | Xenon |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Nuclear Fuel |
| Keyword-3 | Detector |