An Assessment of the Science Proposed for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) (2012) / Chapter Skim
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4 Impacts of a National Underground Facility
4 Impacts of a National Underground Facility
Pages 88-104
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From page 88... ...
A highly integrated facility such as the one proposed by the DUSEL program would also allow for educating the general public and benefiting nearby communities. This chapter discusses some of the impacts of such a facility.
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From page 89... ...
For instance, the three main physics experiments could be co-located in the Homestake mine, or a dark matter experiment could be co-located with existing experiments at an existing laboratory. The proposed DUSEL program co-locates all of the experiments and foresees a more integrated program that includes additional aspects of a national laboratory, including a surface campus, a large user community, mechanisms for developing a future program, and an education/outreach facility.
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From page 90... ...
Conclusion: If co-located with one or more of the main underground physics experiments in the United States, a small underground accelerator facility to enable measurements of low-energy nuclear cross sections important to nuclear astrophysics would benefit from shared infrastructure, personnel, and expertise. Conclusion: In light of the potential for valuable experiments in subsurface engineering, the geosciences, and the biosciences that could be offered by an underground research facility, if such facility is constructed in the United States for physics experiments, scientists in other fields would greatly benefit by having a mechanism in place that would allow them to perform research there.
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From page 91... ...
The proposed DUSEL program would serve as a key element in this plan for both the Intensity Frontier and the Cosmic Frontier. The long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, coupled with a new high-intensity proton source at Fermilab, is a critical component of the Intensity Frontier program, along with neutrinoless double-beta decay experiment and the search for proton decay.
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From page 92... ...
The committee was briefed on a future antineutrino oscillation experiment to measure the matter antimatter asymmetry in neutrinos and on future underground gravitational wave experiments. Moreover, for dark matter and/or double-beta decay studies, larger, 7 DOE.
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From page 93... ...
The proposed DUSEL program, in bringing together particle and nuclear physicists at a single experimental site, will also provide a venue and program for interactions among scientists and an enriched, synergistic intellectual atmosphere that enhances their research. Having researchers from the biological, geological, and engineering sciences conduct experiments alongside physicists may result in the application of experimental techniques to new fields just as, in the past, the rapid development of particle astrophysics and dark matter experiments relied on techniques and facilities developed to support accelerator- and space-based experiments.
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From page 94... ...
The committee recognizes that the proposed DUSEL program would not be the only way to provide stewardship to these research communities. For instance, as discussed more fully in the following section, other underground laboratory space is available and new underground research space can be created in other contexts.
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From page 95... ...
General Considerations While the United States is uniquely well positioned for mounting the longbaseline neutrino oscillation experiment, its ability to mount the other physics experiments in the proposed DUSEL program is not unique. These experiments, which do not need a beam from an external accelerator, could, in principle, be mounted in an underground research facility anywhere in the world.
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From page 96... ...
Some foreign underground research facilities that might be considered can didates for a U.S.-led experiment such as SNOLAB are in operating mines, which presents a separate set of issues. There are trade-offs to be considered in choosing between an experimental site at a dedicated research facility and one in an operat ing mine.
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From page 97... ...
Dark Matter and Double-Beta Decay Experiments The considerations for mounting the experiments in direct detection of dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta decay are similar. They include the need for multiple experiments and for deep sites and/or large caverns, as well as an acknowledgement of the global nature of these programs.
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From page 98... ...
The size and complexity of future dark matter and double-beta decay experi ments, the potential scarcity of specific target materials for dark matter experi ments and of specific nuclear isotopes for double-beta decay experiments, and the substantial costs of the experiments will probably necessitate global collaborations to amass the effort, material, and financing required. As stated previously, at least two dark matter experiments and at least two double-beta decay experiments are needed worldwide to successfully address these two key scientific questions.
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From page 99... ...
Experiments in Subsurface Engineering and the Geosciences and Biosciences For subsurface engineering, the geosciences, and the biosciences, special considerations include characteristics of the proposed DUSEL program as well as the need for multiple research environments. Existing underground research laboratories around the world for subsurface engineering were all developed for studies related to radioactive waste isolation.
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From page 100... ...
are of particular relevance to the proposed DUSEL program. Summary of the Need As suggested above, a national underground research facility in the United States would provide the world with much-needed laboratory space for experi ments in the burgeoning international field of underground science.
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From page 101... ...
It could accommodate one of the large direct detection dark matter experiments and one of the large neutrinoless double-beta decay experiments that are needed by the interna tional effort to delve into these critical scientific issues, while sharing infra structure among the three experiments, which are of comparable import. It could also host and share infrastructure with other underground physics experiments, such as an accelerator to study nuclear astrophysics, and with underground experiments in other fields.
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From page 102... ...
Further, the technical challenges associated with an underground facility would lead to the development of innovative engineering techniques and provide a focus for engineering research. Educational and Outreach Opportunities The science to be explored by the proposed DUSEL program is world-class and transformative, highlighting experiments that aim at understanding the basic nature of the Universe.
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From page 103... ...
• Collaborations with faculty at local colleges and universities An underground research facility such as the proposed DUSEL laboratory would take advantage of the public's curiosity about what lies below Earth's surface to attract them to the facility, where they can be exposed to frontier science and state-of-the-art technology. The Soudan Underground Laboratory has been successful in attracting the public.
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