COLOSSAL CAVERNS EXCAVATION FOR FERMILAB’S DUNE EXPERIMENT COMPLETES

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- The excavation of the caverns that will house the gigantic particle detectors of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) in Lead, South Dakota, United States (US) has completed.

According to the US Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in a statement, final outfitting of the colossal caverns will begin soon and make way for the start of the installation of the DUNE detectors later this year.

Fermilab’s Michael Gemelli, who managed the excavation of the caverns by Thyssen Mining said: “The completion of the three large caverns and all of the interconnecting drifts marks the end of a really big dig. With no lost-time accidents in over three years, we reached a major achievement.”

Meanwhile, US Project Director Chris Mossey said completing this step prepares the project for installation of the detectors later this year and brings them a step closer towards fulfilling the vision of making this a world-class underground facility.

Located a mile below the surface, the three colossal caverns are at the core of a new research facility that spans an underground area about the size of eight soccer fields.

The caverns provide space for four large neutrino detectors, each one about the size of a seven-story building and the detectors will be filled with liquid argon and record the rare interaction of neutrinos with the transparent liquid.

The DUNE collaboration, which includes more than 1,400 scientists and engineers from over 200 institutions in 35 countries, is eager to start the installation of the particle detectors.

They have successfully tested the technology and assembly process for the first detector and preparations for the technology of the second detector are underway at the research laboratory of European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

-- BERNAMA