Rachel Carr

Assistant Professor of Physics, US Naval Academy

Abstract:
For decades, physicists have used neutrinos from nuclear reactors to advance basic science. These pursuits have inspired many ideas for applications of neutrino detectors in nuclear energy and security. While developments in neutrino science are now making some of these ideas technically feasible, it has not been clear how practically they mesh with the needs, budgets, and other constraints of end users such as the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2019, the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D commissioned a community study on this question. The study, called Nu Tools, included extensive interviews with over 40 nuclear security and energy professionals. Perhaps surprisingly, these experts do see potential niches for neutrino detectors, but not in the places neutrino physicists have often seen them. This talk will review the Nu Tools study and findings, available in full at: https://nutools.ornl.gov/, with a focus on applications in future regional nuclear agreements.

Bio:
Rachel Carr is an Assistant Professor of Physics at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. She was previously a Pappalardo Fellow in Physics and Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at MIT, as well as a legislative fellow in the office of Sen. Feinstein. Beginning with her PhD research at Columbia, her scientific focus has been the experimental study of neutrinos.