  Current models of antineutrino production in nuclear reactors predict
detection rates and spectra at odds with the existing body of direct reactor
antineutrino measurements. High-resolution antineutrino detectors operated
close to compact research reactor cores can produce new precision measurements
useful in testing explanations for these observed discrepancies involving
underlying nuclear or new physics. Absolute measurement of the 235U-produced
antineutrino spectrum can provide additional constraints for evaluating the
accuracy of current and future reactor models, while relative measurements of
spectral distortion between differing baselines can be used to search for
oscillations arising from the existence of eV-scale sterile neutrinos. Such a
measurement can be performed in the United States at several highly-enriched
uranium fueled research reactors using near-surface segmented liquid
scintillator detectors. We describe here the conceptual design and physics
potential of the PROSPECT experiment, a U.S.-based, multi-phase experiment with
reactor-detector baselines of 7-20 meters capable of addressing these and other
physics and detector development goals. Current R&D status and future plans for
PROSPECT detector deployment and data-taking at the High Flux Isotope Reactor
at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be discussed.
