Sanford Lab invites public to learn about construction of new experiment
LEAD, S.D.?It would be the world?s most ambitious neutrino experiment, and the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Sanford Lab) wants everyone to know about it?especially the lab?s neighbors. Construction of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) could begin as early as 2017. The proposed site is on the surface on Sanford Lab property south of Kirk Road in Lead. An alternate site would put the detector deep underground. Environmental evaluations of both options are under way.
Public information meetings will be on:
? Tuesday, June 25, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Days Inn at 900 Miners Ave. in Lead
? Wednesday, June 26, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Best Western Ramkota (Washington Room), 2111 North La Crosse St. in Rapid City
The meetings will be the same format and content?short presentations at the beginning of each meeting, illustrative posters and opportunities to talk one-on-one with scientists, engineers and others working on the project. Neighbors and members of the public also will learn more about the environmental assessment being prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. For more information on the public meetings or regarding special accommodations, please contact Bill Harlan, Sanford Lab communication director, at (605) 722-4025 or at bharlan@sanfordlab.org.
The proposed Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment would send a beam of neutrinos straight through the earth from Fermilab near Chicago to a particle detector at the Sanford Lab. The experiment will help scientists learn more about neutrinos, which are among the most abundant particles in the universe. Neutrinos also have a local connection. Nuclear chemist Ray Davis earned a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002 for the neutrino experiment he installed in the Homestake gold mine in the mid-1960s. LBNE would follow up on that work.
LBNE could add decades to the life of the Sanford Lab. More than 350 scientists from five countries are working on the proposed experiment.
LBNE managers expect the draft environmental assessment to be released in early 2014. The release will be followed by a period for public comment and public meetings to gather comments. More information about LBNE and the plan for the environmental assessment is available at http://lbne.fnal.gov/env-assessment.shtml.
The Sanford Underground Research Facility, located at the former Homestake gold mine in Lead, S.D., is owned and operated by the South Dakota Science Technology Authority, with support from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy. Deep underground labs protect sensitive experiments from the cosmic radiation that bombards the surface of the earth. Currently there are two experiments 4,850 feet underground at the Sanford Lab. The Large Underground Xenon experiment is looking for an elusive substance called dark matter. The Majorana Demonstrator experiment, currently under construction, will search for one of the rarest forms of radioactive decay. Visit the Sanford Lab?s website at www.sanfordlab.org, follow us on Twitter at @SanfordLab and visit the Sanford Underground Research Facility page on Facebook.
Fermilab is America?s premier national laboratory for particle physics research. A U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, Fermilab is located near Chicago, Illinois, and operated under contract by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC. Visit Fermilab?s website at www.fnal.gov and follow Fermilab on Twitter at @FermilabToday.
The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.