CAUSE was established in 2003 to promote the development of underground science and engineering at the Henderson Mine located near Empire, Colorado. Although the original motivation was for Henderson to host the UNO experiment, it was soon realized that it would also be an excellent candidate for a proposed Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). CAUSE members are a core component of the national Henderson Underground Science and Engineering Project (HUSEP) organization that has been established to respond to DUSEL solicitations from the National Science Foundation.
This project is being sought after by the state and local people. Governor Mike Rounds' five Homestake Mine bills in support of theNUSEL location won unanimous support from the state legislature. This includes insurance and $10 million to be provided by the state of South Dakota. The site is a former mine and there are many trained mine workers out of jobs.
Soudan Underground Laboratory
Soudan, Minnesota
This unique facility is located almost a half-mile underground, and is designed to explore fundamental questions about the structure of our universe. Neutrino lab.
www.soudan.umn.edu/
Other DUSEL Sites
Gran Sasso region in Italy
In 1993 a highway tunnel and adjacent neutrino lab were dug through the Gran Sasso mountain range in central Italy. What was perhaps unanticipated is that the tunnel and lab act as a drain for the water table of the mountain. Ten workers were killed by the outpouring and the water table in the mountain was dramatically lowered by 800 meters, to the tunnel level. The tunnels empty 3050 liters of water per second from the mountain. Three rivers with their source on the mountain have reduced flows: the Tavo River by 70%, the Tinno River by 16% and the Enel River by 18%, as certified March, 1999 in a National Geologic Service report.
Deep lab nuclear physicists at Gran Sasso are pushing for a third tunnel to satisfy growing demand for new scientific experiments there. But the communities that have lost their water say no, joining environmental groups and agencies in the "Committee for the Protection of the Waters of Gran Sasso. " On December 20, 2003, protests by 1500 people in Pescara, 700 in Teramo and 100 in L'Aquila said "No" to a third tunnel at Gran Sasso. In 2001 there were 10,000 protesters in Pescara, 7000 in Teramo and 1000 in L'Aquila. Yet, they say, the scientists continue to push for their lab expansion.
www.abruzzosocialforum.org
www.sigea.org
www.abruzzosocialforum.org/archivio/foto
www.digilander.libero.it/wimo/gransasso/gransasso.htm
(the pictures of our mountain - 3000 metres high)
www.metaforum.it/forum/index.php?showtopic=1649
Accident at Gran Sasso:
In August, 2002, two researchers working on the Borexino experiment spilled pseudocumene (1,2,4-trimethylbenzene), a liquid chemical that scintillates when a neutrino strikes. The Borexino detector uses 300 tons of the fluid to spot neutrinos coming from reactions of beryllium-7 in the sun. The scientists raced to contain the spill and reported it immediately to the lab and local authorities, says Frank Calaprice, the head of a collaborating team at Princeton University.
The volatile chemical quickly evaporated, but some of it drained into a nearby creek, where picnickers smelled it; a dead fish was also found at the scene, Calaprice says. That part of the lab was shut down after environmentalists took the matter to the courts. A court-ordered report said the lab's drainage system could contaminate local water supplies. After a period of time, that part of the lab was reopened.
bric.postech.ac.kr/science/97now/03_6now/030610c.html
newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993800
Japan
Kamioka Observatory in Kamioka mine
Japanese alps
In a devastating chain reaction, thousands of super-sensitive light detectors imploded at the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector last week. The damage is so extensive that scientists predict it will take at least a year to repair the neutrino lab. The accident occurred on November 12, 2003 as technicians refilled Super-K's 12.5-million-gallon cylindrical tank with 50,000 tons of water following some routine maintenance. When the tank was filled, about 7,000 of the 11,200 20-inch-wide glass PMTs that line the inside of the chamber suddenly burst, sending glass and debris to the bottom of the tank. Another 1,000 outer detectors (used to filter unwanted neutrinos, such as those produced by cosmic rays) also imploded, while further damage occurred within Super-K's walls.
The 50,000 ton water Cherenkov detector buried deep beneath the Japanese alps has produced the first convincing evidence for atmospheric neutrino oscillations and thus mass, and has produced the most cited paper ever in experimental particle physics. The instrument is also used to study solar neutrinos and to search for nucleon decay, supernovae, and a variety of astrophysical neutrinos and unusual sources and particles, such as monopoles, WIMPS, etc. The detector has operated since 1996, will restart operations after a one year hiatus (due to PMT implosion in 11/01) in late 2002, and is expected to run for about another ten years.
http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/sk/superk.html
http://www.hp.phys.titech.ac.jp/kamioka/index_e.html
http://www.phys.washington.edu/~superk/
Accident grounds neutrino lab
15 November 2001
Neutrino physics has suffered a serious blow following an accident at one of the field's leading facilities. The Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan - which in 1998 announced evidence for the existence of neutrino mass - will be out of action for at least a year after most of its 11 000 photomultiplier tubes imploded. Officials at Super-Kamiokande have not confirmed the cause of the accident but it is thought that the pressure of the water inside the detector was too high.
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/5/11/9
Russia
Baksan Neutrino Laboratory, Russia
Caucasus
The INR Baksan neutrino observatory situated in Prielbrusye(the Caucasus) is a complex of unique scientific facilities comprising Gallium-Germanium Neutrino Telescope, Lithium-Beryllium and Chlorine-Argon Neutrino Telescopes (under construction), Baksan Underground Scintillation Telescope, ground installations KOVYOR and ANDYRCHI and a complex of underground low-background laboratories.
http://www.inr.ac.ru/INR/Baksan.html
http://ewi.npl.washington.edu/SAGE/sage.html
