Speakers
Description
The Reactor Experiment for Neutrinos and Exotics (RENE) aims to search for sterile neutrinos in the Δm²≈2 eV² region, motivated by the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly. The detector consists of a cylindrical target volume filled with 270 liters of Gd-loaded liquid scintillator (Gd-LS), and a surrounding box-shaped gamma catcher with approximately 3,000 liters of liquid scintillator (LS). The entire volume is instrumented by two 20-inch photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A design feature is the gamma catcher, which improves energy resolution to about 4% for prompt energies above 4 MeV. This improvement is significant for short-baseline reactor experiments, as it increases sensitivity in the sterile neutrino parameter space compared to prior analyses. The experimental site is set at the tendon gallery of the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant in South Korea, approximately 24 m from the reactor core. Currently, the detector is in a commissioning phase at RENO far site, collecting data from cosmic muons and calibration sources. Deployment into the gallery will occur after completing nuclear security and fire safety assessments, pending approval from the power plant. This presentation will discuss the detector's design, construction, recent commissioning results, and the status of preparations for underground deployment.