22 SEPTEMBER 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Expanding Underground Research Space Adapted from Information by the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) There are 16 major deep underground labs located in countries from China to Canada that are all vying for the kinds of cutting-edge underground research that forms the foundation for future technological growth and innovation. In the U.S., the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) has conducted the first underground blast in a major expansion of new research space nearly a mile below the surface. “Multiple generations will benefit from this blast,” said Casey Peterson, board chair of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA). The first blast was conducted for a new access tunnel (drift) that will lead into two large caverns set to house future generations of cutting-edge underground research. The access drift is the first phase of the expansion and is expected to be completed this fall. “This first blast is the culmination of years of hard work to secure funding and complete excavation plans, and it sets a strong foothold for a multidisciplinary lab at SURF for the future,” said Mike Headley, executive director of the SDSTA and the laboratory director at SURF. The excavation of this access drift is thanks to an investment made by the State of South Dakota, which allocated $13 million for the expansion of SURF. Blasting drifts into solid rock underground is a highly controlled and carefully engineered process. The volume of explosives is carefully calculated and placed by mining engineers and technicians to achieve a precise outcome and contour of the drift. Following the blasts, excess rock is removed and the walls and ceiling of the drift are secured with rock bolts. All rock excavated from this SURF drift will be kept underground. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment at SURF is expected to be in operation until about 2050. The new expansion caverns at SURF could also house additional types of future generation physics experiments. Quantum information systems benefit from an underground environment, and it is engaging with the quantum computing community. SURF is also attracting interest from groups who are developing quantum thermal sensors for dark matter and neutrino physics searches. It may also be a candidate site for a multiton-scale detector in search of neutrinoless double-beta decay similar to the Majorana Demonstrator. SURF’s collaborators include over 2000 scientists from over 200 institutions and universities worldwide. Phase two, which includes the larger caverns, is expected to commence around 2028 and take up to three years to complete. EXB
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=