Origin of the Reactor Antineutrino Anomalies in Light of a New Summation Model with Parametrized ß

We investigate the possible origins of the reactor antineutrino anomalies in norm and shape within the framework of a summation model where ß^{-} transitions are simulated by a phenomenological model of Gamow-Teller decay strength. The general trends of divergence from the Huber-Mueller model on the antineutrino side can be reproduced in both norm and shape. From the exact electron-antineutrino correspondence of the summation model, we predict similar distortions in the electron spectra, suggesting that biases on the reference spectra of fission electrons could be the cause of the anomalies.

Accurate Measurement of the Electron Antineutrino Yield of

We report a measurement of the antineutrino rate from the fission of ^{235}U with the STEREO detector using 119 days of reactor turned on. In our analysis, we perform several detailed corrections and achieve the most precise single measurement at reactors with highly enriched ^{235}U fuel. We measure an IBD cross section per fission of σ_{f}=(6.34±0.06[stat]±0.15[sys]±0.15[model])×10^{-43} cm^{2}/fission and observe a rate deficit of (5.2±0.8[stat]±2.3[sys]±2.3[model])% compared to the model, consistent with the deficit of the world average. Testing ^{235}U as the sole source of the deficit, we find a tension between the results of lowly and highly enriched ^{235}U fuel of 2.1 standard deviations.

New antineutrino energy spectra predictions from the summation of beta decay branches of the fission products.

In this Letter, we study the impact of the inclusion of the recently measured beta decay properties of the (102;104;105;106;107)Tc, (105)Mo, and (101)Nb nuclei in an updated calculation of the antineutrino energy spectra of the four fissible isotopes (235,238)U and (239,241)Pu. These actinides are the main contributors to the fission processes in pressurized water reactors. The beta feeding probabilities of the above-mentioned Tc, Mo, and Nb isotopes have been found to play a major role in the γ component of the decay heat of (239)Pu, solving a large part of the γ discrepancy in the 4-3000 s range. They have been measured by using the total absorption technique, insensitive to the pandemonium effect. The calculations are performed by using the information available nowadays in the nuclear databases, summing all the contributions of the beta decay branches of the fission products. Our results provide a new prediction of the antineutrino energy spectra of (235)U, (239,241)Pu, and, in particular, (238)U for which no measurement has been published yet. We conclude that new total absorption technique measurements are mandatory to improve the reliability of the predicted spectra.