DUSEL conference live blog
Oct. 2, 2009
2:19 p.m.
As I sit in an update about the DUSEL progress and plans a quick glance through my notes shows the word “development” perfectly aligned on about five successive lines. “Development” is the word of the day. Heck, it’s the word of the week, as scientists talk about their needs to develop experiments in the deep underground science and engineering laboratory, and DUSEL officials talk about what they need from scientists to develop their preliminary design for construction development in the Homestake Mine.
Development, development, development. It creates jobs — currently there are at least three DUSEL contractors assessing the lab right now for geotechnical qualities, underground infrastructure and surface campus infrastructure. There are at least a half dozen former Sanford Lab employees who have now either advanced to become employees of the DUSEL team or who divide their time between DUSEL plans and plans for the Sanford Lab. That is in addition to the many former Homestake gold miners who now proudly hail the title of “infrastructure technician” as they diligently work to re-open the former mine for science and excavate underground to prepare for lab development.
There’s that word again!
Development creates opportunity — as is evidenced by the scientific work proposed for the lab and the educational opportunities they present. Development provides advancement — as evidenced by the monumental effort the scientists, and the local, state, and federal governments have made to re-open the decommissioned gold mine for science, which revitalized a town that had been depressed and in serious economic jeopardy after its most prominent employer and resource — the Homestake Gold Mine — closed shop, and created mountains of opportunity for school children and residents across the state.
According to the most recently reported timeline for the DUSEL, a successful preliminary design report will result in the federal facility breaking ground in 2013. The National Science Board will decide whether to take the proposal to build the deep underground science and engineering laboratory to Congress for funding approval in 2011.
With all agencies involved very enthusiastic about the concept of building this unique facility that will be the deepest underground laboratory in the world, (the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy) the outlook is promising. If the proposal is successful, and officials start construction in 2013 as planned, a preliminary timetable has excavation for the first lab to be completed in 2016, with a period of upgrading and outfitting to take place and be completed in the same year. A large cavern that will host a 100 kiloton detector would be completed by the end of 2017, and development of the 7,400-foot level is expected to start in the middle of 2017, with a schedule to be complete by 2018.

Oct. 1
1:22 p.m.
Boy! For a bunch of scientists who want to study dark matter in Lead, they sure do bring a lot of white matter with them every time they come!
It seems as though every major conference the scientists have held in Lead, whether it is in the middle of winter or the beginning of spring, yields snow of some kind. I proposed to Dr. Kevin Lesko that the next major science conference be held in the summer so I can test the theory that the scientists are bringing the snow.
But all joking aside, currently I am sitting in the main conference room at the Golden Hills Inn, awaiting a presentation by the National Science Foundation. To my right is Dr. Jose Alonso, lab director for the Sanford Lab, who is quickly trying to eat a sandwich before the presentations start. He has been taking scientists underground since about 5:30 a.m., and he says this is the first opportunity he has had to eat. A quick glance at him shows that he really has been extremely busy, as the Sanford Lab hosts the 200 scientists who have come to town to mesh their plans for experiments with the design and engineering for the deep underground science and engineering laboratory, a preliminary design that will be submitted to the NSF in 2011.
Going into Day 2 of the conference, what continues to immediately strike me as I walk into these events is the wide variety of accents that I encounter. To my left is a man with a thick Chinese accent, who is involved with three experiments proposed for DUSEL. One of those is carbon sequestration, or the effort to hold carbon underground for as long as possible. Currently a man with a significant German accent is asking a question about isotopic enrichment. Earlier today I spoke with an Italian scientist from Princeton University, who also has a very thick accent.
There are scientists here from all over the country and the world. To say they are excited about this project to build the deepest underground laboratory in the world is an understatement. Most are emphatically enthusiastic about getting underground, and starting their experiments. From building massive detectors underground to search for dark matter, to investigating how the earth moves, their experiments are widely varied.
Dr. John Kotcher, of the National Science Foundation just finished talking about the NSF’s commitment to the project, as well as the process the DUSEL project must go through. The NSF recently approved $21 million for scientists to research and develop 16 different experiments that are proposed for the DUSEL. Additionally, the NSF approved $29 million more for the DUSEL team to finish its preliminary design by December of 2010. That funding is coupled with the $15 million original award to the DUSEL team for research and development, as well as a $3 million supplement, to total $47 million that the National Science Foundation has committed to the very early stages of planning the underground federal laboratory.
Overall, that’s $68 million that the National Science Foundation has committed for research, development, engineering and preliminary design for the experiments and the lab that will house them. That funding comes before the designs have even been approved, and while scientists like Kevin Lesko, his young post doctoral student, Jason Detwiler, Dr. Bill Roggenthen of the S.D. School of Mines and Technology and many others are meticulously planning for their ultimate presentation to the NSF.
Anyone who doesn’t think that federal money has reached South Dakota should consider the breadth and depth of the construction and engineering that is currently underway in Lead. First of all, much of the NSF’s newest $29 million award to the DUSEL team is being funneled through the S.D. School of Mines and Technology, which is overseeing the major engineering and DUSEL excavation contracts that are ongoing right now. That means that contractors are in town, spending money and time, and sharing their expertise with the decision makers who will decide whether South Dakota hosts the largest underground lab in the world. That also means that one of South Dakota’s top science and engineering schools is now the hub of activity for one of the world’s top scientific proposals, with experiments that are ranked as some of the top priorities by the international scientific community. A few years ago, the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, or P5, comprised of some of the top scientists in the world, outlined those priorities to the NSF. Among the top projects was the DUSEL, where scientists could continue to study dark matter and the properties of neutrinos.
Please do not confuse the federal dollars with the state dollars. In order to secure its place as the preferred site for the national lab, the state of South Dakota has dedicated more than $35 million to what is called the early implementation program, or, development of the Sanford Lab at the 4,850-foot level, where more than 20 experiments are currently underway from the 300-foot level all the way down to the 4,850-foot level of the former gold mine. Additionally, it is the state-run project that enjoys a $70 million award from Sioux Falls philanthropist T. Denny Sanford. While the DUSEL team and the Sanford Lab work together to achieve the common goal of a federally funded facility, the two entities are distinctly different in their funding mechanisms and management structures.
But the purpose of this week’s blogs is to discuss the DUSEL, for which the education component of the lab is enormous and continues to astound me. As a reporter, I am charged to remain objective and neutral. However, when being told that South Dakota has just approved its first Ph.D. program in physics as a direct result of the Sanford Lab development and the DUSEL, even the most skeptical of people should pause. This gives South Dakota students the opportunity to study cutting edge science while staying in their home state. Additionally, it gives the state an edge when competing for technological industry and high-paying jobs that are typical spin-offs of high energy physics. One example of such industry is the World Wide Web, which was originally developed as a means of communication between large scientific collaborations.
If that isn’t enough, 10 students from throughout the state, even from some of the state’s poorest areas on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations, recently took advantage of an amazing opportunity through the Davis-Bahcall Scholarship. Using this scholarship, students who have demonstrated an interest in math and science were selected to spend several weeks last summer touring and studying science at the Sanford Lab, Princeton, Grans Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, and CERN National Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. Talk about an experience! It makes me want to go back to high school, just so I can apply for the program. The Davis-Bahcall Scholarship program, the brainchild of professors from Princeton University who were working closely with DUSEL officials, was the direct result of the proposal to build a federal lab in Lead.
Another tangible effect of the lab in South Dakota can be found in QuarkNet, a K-12 teacher training program that was piloted this year. Nationally renowned, the program, in its local capacity, invites teachers to the Sanford Lab to study science and develop ways to integrate curriculum to get their students excited about math and science. Supported by the Department of Energy and the NSF, the program offers ongoing support for teachers as well as materials for the classroom and an unforgettable experience that allows teachers to bring their contagious enthusiasm back to the classroom. Dr. Kara Keeter, physics professor at Black Hills State University, can be credited with bringing this program to South Dakota. In fact, a map that highlights various QuarkNet programs across the country, shows multiple dots of participating states on both the east and west coast, with just a single dot in the Midwest — that is Black Hills State University. Thank you Dr. Keeter!
From the millions of dollars that are being funneled through the state for research and development, to the priceless educational benefits our children are currently reaping as a result of this underground laboratory concept, it appears that the state has already reaped the benefits of the proposed DUSEL. So, whether the scientists find dark matter in the depths of Homestake, or whether they simply continue to bring white matter with them when they come to town, we welcome you and look forward to the time when you all will stay with us for longer periods as you turn our former gold mine into a treasure trove of science.