SNOLAB to build cryopit with $8.73M in funding

Sudbury, ON – The SNOLAB research facility, part of the existing underground facility for the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, is being expanded. Funding of $8.73 million from the provincial government will help researchers there build a cryopit, a large cavern to store the low-temperature liquids and gases needed to conduct large-scale cryogenic experiments for the next generation of research into dark matter particles.

“By acting now to expand the lab facilities, we’re seizing a vital opportunity to solidify Canada’s position as a world leader in the field of astroparticle physics,” says Dr David Sinclair, SNOLAB director of facility development. “As a result, for the foreseeable future SNOLAB will be the largest, deepest and cleanest facility available for this type of research.”

The facility is located two km underground at CVRD Inco’s Creighton Mine near Sudbury, an overburden that provides 6010 metres water equivalent (MWE) of cosmic ray shielding and offers a uniquely low background environment for the next generation of experiments exploring the frontiers of particle physics and astrophysics.

Experiments at SNOLAB (running now and planned) span topics including:
– searches for dark matter,
– low-energy solar neutrinos,
– neutrinoless double beta decay,
– supernova detection using neutrinos, and
– geophysics.