Posted on 10/26/2017 5:52:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
LEAD — Construction on the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), which will house the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), is underway. Groundbreaking ceremonies took place July 21.
Tuesday, the Sanford Underground Research Facility and Fermilab held a joint informational meeting to brief local residents on what to expect from construction activities and from the economic impact of the project in the months ahead.
Giving the presentation were Sanford Underground Research Facility Executive Director Mike Headley and LBNF Project Manager Josh Wilhite.
The presentation began with the major features that will make the DUNE research being done at the LBNF a significant effort in the world of physics.
DUNE will be the largest experiment ever conducted in the U.S. with the objective of studying the nature and behavior of neutrinos. If the effort is successful, it will provide information on the nature of the universe, the nature of matter, and possibly the nature of anti-matter.
There are now 1,032 collaborators involved with the neutrino research connected with the DUNE project. They are from 176 institutions in 31 countries.
A new science and technology agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, signed in September, comes with an $88 million commitment from the U.K. that will go toward the DUNE neutrino research projects at the LBNF.
The presentation paged through the highlights of the potential future economic benefits of LBNF/DUNE for the area.
About 2,000 jobs will be created in South Dakota, and 2,000 jobs in Illinois, cumulatively over the life of the project. Not all jobs will be in place at one time, and the figure includes temporary and long-term employment. A $1 billion total economic impact is expected to be generated in South Dakota and $1.2 billion in Illinois.
When construction activity on the LBNF is at its peak in 2020, there will be 200 people working at the Sanford Lab and contributing to the economy of Lead and the state of South Dakota.
A meeting between Sanford Lab officials and representatives from Kiewit/Alberici, the firm which will handle most of the LBNF construction, was held Aug. 29-30 at the Lab to coordinate efforts on the project.
The schedule laid out for the various phases of the project will follow a sequence beginning with the current rehabilitation of the Ross Shaft during fiscal years 2017-2019. The shaft rehabilitation will include an overhaul of the hoist motor, along with the replacement of the hoist clutches and brakes. The Ross Shaft rehabilitation will also include a re-construction of the head frame with new steel members added to reinforce the structure. Construction of the rock conveyer leading to the Open Cut will also begin during this time period.
During fiscal years 2019 through 2022, the excavation of the underground caverns will begin with the removal of 873 tons of rock from the 4,850-foot level. The material will be deposited in the Open Cut. The rock will be transported through the conveyer system that will extend from the Sanford Lab complex, over Highway 85 at a height of about 20 feet, through a tunnel, and then to a tower extending from the bottom of the Open Cut along its east wall. Dust from the rock disposal process will be dampened by a water sprayer system mounted close to the conveyer opening.
During fiscal year 2022, the cryogenic systems that will serve as the major components of the neutrino detector will be installed in the caverns at the 4,850-foot level. Reduced-scale prototypes of the neutrino detectors are currently being built at the European research center’s CERN laboratories in Switzerland to test the system. CERN has made a $90 million commitment to LBNF/DUNE, and will be a major partner in the research to be conducted.
Wilhite told the local residents in the audience to expect what he called mobilization activities in the neighborhood of the Sanford lab as the LBNF construction project ramps up in the months ahead. There will be some additional traffic, but nothing that will disrupt normal activities in the city. Most of the noise generated during construction will be confined to the inside of the Ross Shaft structure and inside the mine itself, and won’t be audible to city residents, he said. The construction of the conveyer across Highway 85 will be the most obvious indication of activity. The conveyer construction, once it’s underway, may cause the closure of one lane at any given time but won’t block the highway completely.
Wilhite said he was pleased that President Donald Trump’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2018 includes $55 million for the LBNF, an increase of $5 million from Fiscal Year 2017. House and Senate budget proposals have increased the allocations even further, he said, and a continuing budget resolution for 2017 has prevented a slowdown in the LBNF program.
Most of the audience questions following the presentation centered around the economic benefits to be expected from the project.
Headley reiterated the estimate that 200 people will be working at the Sanford Lab at the height of the construction activity in 2020. They will be visiting local establishments and doing business in Lead and in the surrounding area.
Lead Mayor Ron Everett rose to add that the positive economic benefits are already being felt in Lead.
“The project is moving forward,” said Everett. “Things are happening. Sales tax revenues are up.”
Everett credited most of the sales tax revenue increases to the activity at the lab.
Lead City Commissioner Dave Vardiman agreed.
“We’ve already seen an increase in sales tax receipts,” said Vardiman. “With more contractors and others showing up to do business in Lead, we should see other increases. We’ve seen a 40-percent increase in receipts at the visitor center.”
After the meeting, District 30 State Rep. Tim Goodwin of Rapid City said he was pleased with what he heard at the meeting and is optimistic about the future of the lab.
“We’ve got this world-class facility here. It’s great for Lead and the state of South Dakota,” said Goodwin.
He said he is also fascinated by the nature of the research being done there.
“It’s a feather in our cap,” said Goodwin. “Technology is what made American great. This is like a landing on the moon.”
Illinois doesnt deserve it. Who was the genius who made that decision?
Fermilab has been in Illinois for a long time.
It always bothers me when they say some Government project is going to create jobs. It’s an economic fallacy. You don’t see the jobs lost because of the money pulled out of the pockets of productive people that get diverted to this. It might be worthwhile science but I object to the use of fake arguments to support it.
And Argonne National Labs - both have been there since the beginnings of nuclear physics
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.