| Governor, scientist stress importance of proposed $5.4 million bridge funding for Sanford Lab |
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| Written by Wendy Pitlick |
| Thursday, 17 December 2009 |
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LEAD If operations at the Sanford Lab have to be suspended for any period of time due to a lack of funding, that will stop the search for dark matter within the former gold mine, said Dr. Rick Gaitskell, lead physicist for the largest dark matter experiment at the lab and the deepest experiment in the world. “If the lab is forced to go under any kind of suspension that will stop the science absolutely dead,” Gaitskell said after introducing his experiment that he is assembling on the surface of the lab before deploying it to the 4,850-foot level next summer. Gaitskell is the principal investigator for the LUX (Large Underground Xenon) detector, which will use a massive tank of liquid xenon and other specialty equipment to directly detect dark matter particles that scientists say make up more than 90 percent of the universe. Scientists around the world have deemed the search for dark matter particles as one of the top questions to be answered in the 21st century. Gaitskell said once his experiment is underground it must remain there in order to keep cosmic rays out of the detector. Naturally occurring cosmic rays on the earth’s surface make the detection of dark matter particles impossible, since the particles are capable of passing through the earth undetected. But 4,850 feet underground, those natural cosmic rays are nearly non-existent, making it possible for scientists to directly detect the dark matter particles. Gaitskell’s comments about the importance of keeping the Sanford Lab running came as he addressed questions about Gov. Mike Rounds’ request for $5.4 million in funding that will bridge the gap from when the S.D. Science and Technology Authority projects it will run out of money for operations, and when the federal government plans to take over. Originally when the state allocated nearly $35 million in 2004 and 2005, and when T. Denny Sanford announced his multi-million dollar donation for the lab in 2006, the state expected the federal government to take over operations by 2010. However, delays in the process and the ensuing slower timeline in Washington pushed that expectation for federal funding back to 2011, leaving a six month gap for operation funds at the Sanford Lab. Rounds’ $5.4 million proposal is intended to try and bridge that gap by providing money for the Authority to continue to operate the lab. The money will be used for such activities as pumping water from the former gold mine, water treatment, utility costs, and other expenses necessary for the regular lab operation. In order to try and facilitate passage of that funding proposal, the S.D. Science and Technology Authority voted Thursday to register as lobbyists for the 2010 Legislative session. Sanford Lab Executive Director Ron Wheeler said while the Authority has no plans to directly lobby the Legislature, registering will allow Authority members to answer any questions that arise, or to correct any misinformation that is disseminated about the lab. In the state of South Dakota outside entities are required to register as lobbyists before addressing the Legislature on the floor during session. Rounds said Tuesday that with an entirely different Legislature this year than those who originally approved the $35 million — more than $14 million in 2004 and $19.9 million in 2005 — he does not know whether the funding proposal will go through. However, he is hopeful that the Legislature will see the value of the project and the importance of maintaining the lab, as well as recognize that the funding proposal uses one-time money. “This is a new group,” Rounds said of the legislators. “They’re concerned. They don’t want to do something they think their voters back home will be alarmed about. I think at the same time those voters understand how big this possibility is. For us, what we have offered them is the opportunity to bridge this funding gap with about $5 million that is not even coming from our general fund. We have scraped it together from other sources that they really couldn’t put to education of a K-12 program because that’s got to be ongoing funding. So they really can’t use it in one of their other favorite pots that a lot of people want to do because all they would do is add to the structural deficit because this is one-time money.” Rounds said the $5.4 million will help keep the Sanford Lab operational until the federal government can take over in 2011. That is when the National Science Foundation plans to decide whether to move the deep underground science and engineering laboratory proposal from its list of major research and equipment facilities construction (MREFC) projects to a funded program, which researchers and government officials alike are confident will happen based on the expressed priorities of the scientific community. If approved, the DUSEL will comprise an estimated $550 million project that includes a five-year construction timeline to build deep underground labs all the way down to the 7,400-foot level of Homestake. Already, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy combined have committed a total of $47 million for the facility design of DUSEL, and more than $21 million for the design and development of experiments that are proposed for DUSEL. “The presence of this LUX experiment here would simply not be (possible) without the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation and what they’re doing,” Gaitskell said. Gaitskell added that throughout the 20th Century, in the development of all the major national labs in the country there are always these sorts of hiccups in funding timelines. Gaitskell said he is optimistic that the state will continue with the same level of commitment that prompted the NSF to select Homestake as the preferred site for the DUSEL. “I think it was the commitment of South Dakota to the original idea that really sealed the original locating of the site here,” he said. “When you look back over the 20th century in the U.S., when you see these new great laboratories being established the states where they are based was an enormously important part. So, we just have to finish that initial period and then in 2011 we will be transitioning to a fully federally supported facility. Obviously we have already made sure that the way in which funds are being spent is concentrating on the things that will get us to science. There is no fat in the program.” In the spirit of convincing the public that Homestake is worth continuing to support for science, Gaitskell said he and members of the LUX collaboration are continually educating people here locally and in Washington about the science that is going on at the Sanford Lab now. In fact, he said, the LUX collaboration is fully committed to the Homestake site, and if the Sanford Lab is closed down due to lack of funding, the experiment that hails the direct detection of dark matter will not have an alternate location choice. “We do think the LUX program is in a position to really capture people’s imagination because it is such a significant improvement over any comparable science in this field,” Gaitskell said. “The LUX experiment is fully committed to Homestake. This is a fully operational science lab and we are in the astrophysics business.” |
