SNIF: A Futuristic Neutrino Probe for Undeclared Nuclear Fission Reactors

Today reactor neutrino experiments are at the cutting edge of fundamental research in particle physics. Understanding the neutrino is far from complete, but thanks to the impressive progress in this field over the last 15 years, a few research groups are seriously considering that neutrinos could be useful for society. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) works with its Member States to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies. In a context of international tension and nuclear renaissance, neutrino detectors could help IAEA to enforce the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In this article we discuss a futuristic neutrino application to detect and localize an undeclared nuclear reactor from across borders. The SNIF (Secret Neutrino Interactions Finder) concept proposes to use a few hundred thousand tons neutrino detectors to unveil clandestine fission reactors. Beyond previous studies we provide estimates of all known background sources as a function of the detector's longitude, latitude and depth, and we discuss how they impact the detectability.