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Underground Science @ Boulby Mine – Status & Plans

Underground Science @ Boulby Mine – Status & Plans. Sean Paling University of Sheffield. Middlesborough. Staithes. Whitby. York. Boulby Mine. A working potash and rock-salt mine on the Cleveland / North Yorkshire border 12 miles north west of Whitby

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Underground Science @ Boulby Mine – Status & Plans

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  1. Underground Science @ Boulby Mine – Status & Plans Sean PalingUniversity of Sheffield

  2. Middlesborough Staithes Whitby York Boulby Mine • A working potash and rock-salt mine on the Cleveland / North Yorkshire border 12 miles north west of Whitby • Run by Cleveland Potash Ltd (CPL). Large local employer. • The deepest mine in UK. 1100m deep (2805 mwe - 106 reduction in CR muons) View from Staithes Sylvinite

  3. Science Facilities @ Boulby Palmer (JIF) lab - 2003 . > Underground facility: 1000 m2, fully equiped lab space. Power, communications, lifting, air conditioning / filtration, clean room. > Surface support facility. Workshop, facility monitoring, office, PPE, storage, chem lab. > Jointly governed/operated by STFC (RAL), CPL & Sheffield. Opened by Lord Sainsbury - April 2003

  4. Palmer (JIF) Lab 2008

  5. 1.1 km deep (2,805 mwe) CR muons attenuated by ~106 Rock Salt = very low in natural radioactive backgrounds >1,000 m2 existing lab space & v.good potential for expansion. Via mine shaft (5m diam. – 2×2×2m cage) + Transport underground • JIF Underground & surface facilities • Wide-ranging support from mine operators (CPL) 20 min  Whitby, Saltburn 1 hr  York, Leeds, Middleborough < 5 hrs  London, Manchester etc. What makes Boulby special? Requirements for an underground laboratory... • Low Backgrounds • Deep (to shield from cosmic rays) • Low background rock/lab • (and/or adequate shielding) • Plenty of Laboratory space • Easy access for equipment • Good infrastructure + support • Proximity of services / civilisation

  6. Science @ Boulby Dark Matter Searches Now... Completed NaIAD (NaI – Scint. PSD) Dual Phase Underway ZEPLIN-II ZEPLIN I ZEPLIN-III The Future? Rare event / low background studies? Dark matter, 0νBB decay, Nuclear astrophysics, Low background counting. Physics & beyond.. (Liq Xe – Single Phase) R&D DRIFT-II DRIFT-I R&D (TPC - Directional) SKY – climatology study • ILIAS • JRA1 • N2 • TARI • Misc Low Background Studies • Muon backgrounds (Z-I veto study) • Neutron Background measurements (NUTs) • Muon-induced neutrons (Z-II veto study) • High sensitivity Ge detector measurements • Radon studies etc etc. www.ilias.in2p3/fr

  7. Palmer Lab Experiments – June 2008 ZEPLIN-III Imperial College, Edinburgh, RAL, LIP-Coimbra, ITEP-Moscow ` 2 phase (liquid/gas) high field Xenon WIMP dark matter detector. 31 PMTs immersed in ~12kg liquid target. High purity Cu construction. Pb shielding and active gamma/muon veto. Installed 2007. Now running. (See talk by Nigel Smith Friday a.m.) DRIFT-II Sheffield, Edinburgh, Occidental College, U of New Mexico` Low pressure gaseous TPC directional WIMP dark matter detector. 1m3 (fiducial) negative ion drift TPC, 167g CS2 target. Dual 0.5m3 drift vols with MWPC readout. Installed – 2005.Continuing R&D (readout, directionality, background reduction and scale up) (See talk by Ed Daw Friday a.m.)

  8. Palmer Lab Experiments – June 2008 Sheffield University, Danish National Space Institute SKY EPSRC funded experiment to study the effect of cosmic rays on aerosol production. 50l air-filled gas chamber subjected to varying levels of ionising radiation down a 104 lower than before. Chamber & support apparatus currently surface commissioning. Installation due Aug/Sept 08 Low Background Counting Low background, high sensitivity, 2kg (~400cc) Ge detector for material activity measurements. Limit of sensitivity of ~1-10ppb U/Th for typical samples. Also operating a small material Rn emanation detection system based on an upgraded Rad7 commercial Rn detector. Limit of sensitivity <0.02Bq/sample. `

  9. Future Science @ Boulby? • Underground Science is growing • Astro/particle physics experiments and rare event studies are getting BIGGER • - Increasing interest from wider science fields: Earth sciences, geology / geophysics, biology / microbiology, environmental studies, low-background counting What role can Boulby play? DUSEL@Homestake. Proposed $500million US national underground lab >100 Science SOIs • Host for UK and/or international experiments • Support site for underground science R&D • Experiments considered / pursued... • Continued Dark Matter searches... • Rare event studies (e.g LAGUNA, 0νBB decay) • Nuclear Astrophysics (e.g. ELENA) • Ultra sensitive low background counting • etc • Geoscience: One North East working with CPL • on joint initiative for mining & geoscience. York Oct 2006. 50 delegates from a broad spectum of sciences.

  10. The potential for expansion @ Boulby is EXCELLENT Space available in exisiting lab & lots of existing tunnels to exploit Development costs and timescales are very low in comparison to other sites Is Boulby a Suitable Place? YES - It compares well internationally: depth, background levels, access and SPACE. STRONG local support CPL (the mine owners) are very supportive of pursuing expansion of physics and science base. A good (and unique?) example of Science and Industry working together.

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