Over the past decades, particle physics has made significant progress in characterizing neutrinos even if neutrinos have extremely small cross-section (~10-44 cm2), allowing them to penetrate any object. More recently, neutrino detection and analysis have indeed become valuable tools in various aspects of nuclear science and technology. Neutrinos are detected using various methods, including Inverse Beta Decay (IBD), Neutrino-electron scattering, and Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CNNS). For the detection of anti-neutrinos from nuclear reactor, the Inverse Beta Decay (IBD) is commonly considered with scintillators. Notable experiments in Korea, such as RENO and NEOS, have been conducted using the IBD method at the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant since 2006. Additionally, the NEON experiment, which employs CNNS, which has a significantly larger reaction cross-section than IBD but its low-energy signal detection difficulty, has been ongoing since 2021. Based on the results of NEOS (2015-2020) the signal to noise is ~30 and IBD detection rate is ~2000 counts per day. The IBD event in nuclear power plants provides valuable information about reactor behavior. IBD count rates are in good agreement with the thermal power of the reactor. Furthermore, the neutrino energy spectrum can be used to estimate the fission isotope ratio of the reactor core, showing promise for obtaining reactor core information from antineutrino detection techniques. Neutrino detection in nuclear facilities provides valuable information about reactor behavior. However, as a surveillance technology neutrino detection faces challenges due to the very low cross-section, requiring efforts to overcome limitations related to detector size and signal acquisition time. In 2008, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) included neutrino detection in its Research and Development (R&D) program for reactor safeguards. In January 2023, the IAEA organized a “Technical Meeting on Nuclear Data Needs for Antineutrino Spectra Applications” to discuss the latest developments and research results in this field. In summary, the use of neutrino detection in the nuclear field, particularly for reactor monitoring and safeguarding, has advanced significantly. Ongoing research and collaboration are expected to enhance our understanding of neutrinos and their applications in nuclear science and technology.

Pine wood nematode(PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is a causal organism to induce pine wilt disease in many varieties of pine trees. PWN is mainly distributed in the East Asia including Japan, China, and Korea, but it was originally imported from the North America of the West. Over 70 species of Bursaphelenchus have been reported, but they are morphologically similar to each other. In Korea, only two species of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, B. mucronatus (both Asian type and European type) have been reported however, a recent survey showed the distribution of extra species of Bursaphelenchus in dead trees. Three isolates, BSPD-1, BSPD-2, and BSPL-1, were identified as Bursaphelenchus thilandae, B. hylobianum, and B. doui, respectively, which was determined by both morphological and molecular biological characteristics. Both BSPD-1 and BSPD-2 were originally collected from Pinus densiflora in Namyangju and BSPL-1 came from Liriodendron tulipifera in Wanju. The morphology of each species were compared from the original descriptions focusing on male spicule and female tail and reproductive organ. A molecular diagnosis method, ITS-RFLP was applied to confirm morphological identification. Genomic DNA was extracted from a single individual nematode and ITS DNA was amplified by PCR. Amplified ITS was digested by 5 different restriction enzymes (Rsa I, Hae III, Msp I, Hinf I, and Alu I) and provided a discriminatory profile for different species of Bursaphelenchus. The three species, B. thilandae, B. hylobianum, and B. doui, are all unrecorded species in Korea.