Fermilab and SURF team up for neutrino research
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Fermilab and the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead are one step closer to understanding our universe thanks to their Neutrino research.
The DUNE, or Deep Underground Research Experiment project started about four years ago when scientists from Fermilab reached out to SURF with the idea to work with each other on neutrino research.
The goal is to shoot neutrinos from Illinois through the earth and capture them in the Northern Hills.
“Well there’s a lot of science and research that takes place first but after we get through the design end of things then we go underground and we execute the work. So then that’s the phases that we’re currently in right now, that’s the excavation phase which we happen to be 99.7 PERCENT complete right now,” said Michael Gemelli the Excavation Project Manager at Fermilab.
During the excavation phase, more than 500 tons of rock was removed to create an underground cavern for the experiment. Once the area is completely excavated and ready for machinery, the task of getting the equipment underground begins. That may happen in the next few months.
“Everything is limited by the shaft so everything that goes down including the excavation equipment has to go down the shaft so it has to be dismantled taken piece by piece apart sent from the surface all the way underground and assembled for it to perform work,” said Gemelli.
That assembly process is expected to take a couple more years before any scientific research can be done. Once scientists can use the lab, they hope to fundamentally understand the universe we live in a little bit better.
“So the hope is that by making these investigations with neutrinos we can go a level deeper we can understand the universe at a more profound level than we currently do,” said Steve Brice the Head of the DUNE Coordination Office.
Scientists hope that the experiments will help better understand how neutrinos fit into a unified theory of science, which could help fill gaps in our understanding of the universe.
This research isn’t just educational, this experiment could have an impact on the economy as well.
“This is a high-tech endeavor and we’ll be employing a large number of locals in well-paid high-tech adjacent positions,” said Brice.
The project is still a few years out with research expected to start as early as 2027.
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