Production of electron neutrinos at nuclear power reactors and the prospects for neutrino physics

High flux of electron neutrinos(νe) is produced at nuclear power reactors through the decays of nuclei activated by neutron capture. Realistic simulation studies on the neutron transport and capture at the reactor core were performed. The production of 51Cr and 55Fe give rise to monoenergetic νe's at Q-values of 753 keV and 231 keV and fluxes of 8.3x10-4 and 3.0x10-4νe/fission, respectively. Using data from a germanium detector at the Kuo-Sheng Power Plant, we derived direct limits on the νe magnetic moment and the radiative lifetime of μν<1.3x10-8μB and τν/mν>0.11 s/eV at 90% confidence level (CL), respectively. Indirect bounds on τν/mν3 were also inferred. The νe-flux can be enhanced by loading selected isotopes to the reactor core, and the potential applications and achievable statistical accuracies were examined. These include accurate cross-section measurements, studies of mixing angle θ13 and monitoring of plutonium production