The concept of a powerful antineutrino source

A powerful antineutrino source with a hard (n)\tilde] _e\tilde \nu _e spectrum obtained upon the (n, γ) activation of the ⁷Li isotope and the subsequent β⁻ decay (T _1/2 = 0.84 s) of the ⁸Li isotope with the emission of high-energy (n)\tilde] _e\tilde \nu _e with E _v of up to 13 MeV was discussed. The source can be constructed both in the static regime (by covering the active reactor zone with highly purified ⁷Li) and in the dynamic regime of operation. In the dynamic regime, lithium is pumped over in a closed cycle through a converter (i.e., a volumetric reservoir) close to the active reactor zone and further to a remote detector. The source can be constructed on the basis of both highly purified ⁷Li isotope in the metal state and chemical compounds of the ⁷Li isotope. The setup can be developed on the basis of an intensive neutron source or an accelerator with a neutron-producing target. In the dynamic regime, the proposed lithium antineutrino source enables us to increase the cross-section of the ((n)\tilde] _e\tilde \nu _e , d) reaction by two orders of magnitude over a purely reactor spectrum.