Sean Paling STFC Boulby Underground Science Facility
Hartlepool Nuclear Dark Matter Search & ultra Power Station low background studies
Multi-disciplinary studies: geology, climate, the environment, life on earth & elsewhere
Deep Science at Boulby Underground Laboratory: Ultralow background science and science support facilities at the UK’s deep underground science facility New Underground lab @ Boulby Boulby Underground Laboratory
The UK’s deep underground science facility operating in a working polyhalite & salt mine. 1.1km depth (2805 mwe). With low background surrounding rock-salt Operated by the UK’s Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in partnership with the mine operators ICL Polyhalite
Deepest mine in Britain Permian Evaporites
Factor ~106 reduction in cosmic ray flux vs. surface
A QUIET place in the Universe Boulby Geology & Mining Excavations are in Salt (NaCl) & Potash (KCl) Permian evaporite layers left over from the Zechstein Sea. Over 40 kms of tunnel mined each year (now >1,000kms in total), the long-lived roadways being cut in the lower NaCl layer.
Typical Boulby U: 67 ± 6 ppb Salt Roadway Th: 125 ± 10 ppb Low γ & n backgrounds Zechstein Sea Low Rn (<3 Bqm-3)
Potash Mine Shafts
Rock-Salt
New Lab (2017) Polyhalite
Boulby Geology [email protected] Office space, chemistry & clean prep lab, storage and staging space, IT room, conference room,
Surface support and 3 staging building 3000m Outside Outside ExperimentationExperimentation Area Area
Boulby Underground Lab Facilities 2018: >4000m3 class 1k & 10k clean room lab space 100Mb Internet AC, Air filtration, 5T & 10T lifting, LN generation, fume hood & clean prep 3 BUGS+ Material screening 3000m Outside Expt. Area. Power & internet Underground Science @ Boulby Mine • DRIFT/CYGNUS: Directional Dark Matter • BUGs: Ultra-low background material screening (for LUX-ZEPLIN and Super-K-Gd and more) • ERSaB: Environmental gamma spectroscopy DRIFT-II • SELLR: Life in Low background radiation
• RESOURCE: Salt cavity energy storage study CYGNUS Dark Matter Detector • BISAL: Geomicrobiology / Astrobiology studies Life in Boulby Salt… • MINAR: Space Exploration Tech. Development • Misc. Geology / Geoscience Astrobiology & • Etc... (More to come). planetary exploration
A busy & growing multi-disciplinary science programme: from astrophysics (Dark Matter) to studies of geology, climate, the environment, life on Earth & beyond. Boulby Facility Details…
The UK’s deep underground science facility. One of 4 in EU. >10 in the world.
Supports work of 9 collaborative projects (astrophysics to climate, geology, environment etc), 20 institutions, >70 scientists and students. The World’s Underground • Facility funded and operated by the Science & labs Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
• Operations, H&S & science How does Boulby Compare? programme managed by 7(+2) • Lowest Radon levels (3 Bq/m3) • Diverse science programme. onsite staff and supported by • Science and Industry partnership Rutherford Appleton Lab (PPD).
• Mine operators ICL-UK provide wide-ranging operational & high level support.
Gamma Spectra Working alongside mining at Boulby…
Boulby Lab responsibility: Support science Manage Safety Operations Impact CPL/ICL support us: Outreach & Media Keep the mine operating and safe Emergency H&S Materials transportation Misc. Facility maintenance Boulby Dark Matter Studies
Boulby has hosted Dark Matter search studies for two decades. Including the NAIAD, DRIFT & ZEPLIN experiment programmes. Boulby now hosts DRIFT Directional DM programme, doing R&D for CYGNUS & providing ULB material screening for other studies, inc LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) ZEPLIN-III @ Boulby Alpha DM-Ice ZEPLIN: The world’s first 2-phase Xenon dark matter detector (Finished 2011) DRIFT-IId
Current limits & future projections [email protected] DRIFT/CYGNUS Programme..
DRIFT/CYGNUS: R&D for DIRECTIONAL
Dark Matter detection. DRIFT - STATUS: Programme operating at Boulby since 2001. Boulby @ IId Currently limit-setting and conducting system performance & scale-up R&D. Plans for further R&D & expansion / collaboration (CYGNUS). Dual (1m3 total) Negative Ion DRIFT TPC
Directional detection
Occidental College, Alpha trackSimulated New Mexico, data Colorado State, Hawaii, Wellesley, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Boulby
CYGNUS ThGEM development WIMP flux
Status: DRIFTII-d limit setting and R&D exploring Directional DM detection – providing the issues and technologies for scale up - CYGNUS most powerful direct detection signature BUGS (+) Material Screening Growing suite (‘BUGS’) of Ultra-Low-Background (ULB) germanium detector systems to support Dark Matter & misc ‘rare-event’ studies…
Ortec Sensitivity down to <50ppt U/Th per sample, & improving
Backgroun d Spectra Our Current Detectors; - Ortec 1.8 kg (72%) p-type (ULB) - Canberra 2.0 kg (112%) & 3.2 kg Canberra Boulby Underground (171%) p-types (S-ULB) Germanium Suite (BUGS) - 2x Canberra BEGe detectors (5030 ULB, 6530 S-ULB) - Canberra SAGe Well-type (LB) ULB counting studies supporting UK DM (LZ) and neutrino study communities. Now EXPANDING ULB counting capabilities. XIA surface alpha counting
In collaboration with UCL, LZ DMUK, Sheffield LUX-ZEPLIN BUGs in the Boulby undertaking major role in material LUX-ZEPLIN New Lab selection for LUX-ZEPLIN and SK-Gd/T2K <0.0001 alphas/cm2/hr
XIA alpha particle counter LZ sample testing well underway. Great progress so far. New XIA surface alpha detection system now commissioned.
Three additional world-class detectors now installed (x10+ sensitivity). To support current & future ULB expts. Towards PPT sensitivity for G3 DM & Neutrino Expts.
LZ PMTs
SURF Lab and LZ project management team S.M.Paling - [email protected] visit to Boulby Ge Suite – Aug 2015 BUGS Lab Boulby Multi-Disciplinary Studies
DEEP-Carbon: Muon Tomography for deep geological mapping applications including CCS
Boulby, Durham, Sheffield, Bath, Premier Oil, CPL.
ERSaB: Gamma spectroscopy & low background counting environmental radioactivity studies From astrophysics to geology, Boulby, Scottish Universities Env. geophysics, the environment, Research Ctr (SUERC) life on Earth & beyond... Life in Boulby Salt…
MINAR: Space Technology Development Boulby, Edinburgh, NASA, DLR, CPL etc.
Plus Misc. Geology & Geoscience (& more to BISAL: Astrobiology / Geo-microbiology. Studies come)… of life in salt, life on Earth & beyond [email protected] August 2019 Borehole CCS Muon Detector
Muon Tides Detector
Life in Brine Sampling
MINAR – MUFFHINS
SELLR – Life in low SELLR – Life in low backgroundbackground MINAR – CLUPI
BUGs Pb-210 dating MINAR - Pancam Future Science… …Continue current studies, PLUS…
BUGS: Expanding ULB material screening and AIT/WATCHMAN environmental gamma spectroscopy. SK-Gd, Neutrinos & nuclear Hyper-K, Dune & more non-proliferation Expanding Astrobiology, MINAR & wider Robotics DRIFT- RESOURCE study (NERC): Salt cavity test facility for II studies of compressed gas energy storage? • AIT/WATCHMAN: 3 kT Gd-doped water neutrino detector BERES: Salt cavity for nuclear non-proliferation purposes (and more)? energy storage • Next generation Dark Matter, Neutrino and Neutrino- less Double beta decay studies… e,g. SuperNEMO, CYGNUS, etc… Robotics Continue / increase hosting core STFC science projects & wider multidisciplinary studies addressing RCUK (UKRI) priority themes
[email protected] World antineutrino flux levels A WATer CHerenkov Monitor of ANtineutrinos
Planned excavation, installation & operation 2019 to 2024(+) A 6kT Gd- loaded water detector looking at ~20 m anti-neutrinos from Hartlepool nuclear reactor
• 3500 tons of gadoliniumVertices doped water within 50cm • 3000 photomultiplier tubes • Signal: ~11 events/month/core • ΔTBackground: ~30μs ~20 events/month NEW 6kT prototype detector: R&D for anti-neutrino monitoring of nuclear reactors for global nuclear non-proliferation purposes & more Thank You….
Laboratory space, low background counting, science support @ Boulby .
Please Contact us… Email: [email protected] Web: www.stfc.ac.uk/boulby Sean Paling Facebook: Boulby Underground Laboratory STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory