Double Chooz合作团队在法国Chooz核电站取得突破性成果，首次直接探测到关闭核反应堆产生的残留反中微子信号[1]。研究人员利用位于距反应堆核心约400米地下、包含超过30立方米液体闪烁体的Double Chooz探测器，在两个反应堆单元完全关闭期间的17.2天观测窗口内记录到约100个反中微子候选事件[1]。这些信号源自反应堆核心和附近乏燃料冷却池的残留放射性活动[1]。
由德国海德堡马克斯-普朗克核物理研究所的Anthony Onillon和Thierry Lasserre领导的研究团队，将观测数据与核燃料库存和长寿命裂变产物衰变的详细模拟进行了对比[1]。测量结果与理论预测相符，首次直接确认了关闭反应堆和乏燃料产生反中微子排放的理论预测[1]。相关研究成果已发表在《物理评论快报》2026年第137卷第6期[1]。
Researchers have made the first-ever direct detection of antineutrino emissions from a shut-down nuclear reactor, providing experimental confirmation of a decades-old theoretical prediction.[1] The Double Chooz collaboration used an underground detector at the Chooz nuclear power station in northern France to record approximately 100 candidate antineutrino events during a 17.2-day period when both reactor units were completely shut down.[1] The detector, positioned roughly 400 meters from the reactor core and containing over 30 cubic meters of liquid scintillator, captured signals originating from residual radioactive activity in the reactor core and nearby spent fuel cooling pools.[1]
The measurements align with detailed simulations of nuclear fuel inventory and the decay of long-lived fission products, demonstrating that antineutrinos continue to emanate from nuclear reactors even after they cease operations.[1] The research was led by Anthony Onillon and Thierry Lasserre of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, and has been published in Physical Review Letters, volume 137, issue 6, in 2026.[1]