UK pledges $88 million toward US neutrino lab

Weeks after ground was broken on Fermilab’s Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF ), the UK announced that it will contribute $88 million to the dual-sited laboratory.

The contribution comes as part of the first-ever umbrella science and technology cooperation agreement between the UK and the US. The deal was signed on 20 September by Judith Garber, the US acting assistant secretary of state for oceans, environment, and science, and Jo Johnson, the UK minister for universities, science, research, and innovation. The US has similar bilateral agreements with about four dozen other nations.

“Today’s announcement tightens the already strong bonds of scientific collaboration between the US and the UK,” said Chris Mossey, Fermilab’s deputy director for the LBNF. Sixteen UK institutions are expected to contribute to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), which will be housed at the LBNF. Mossey said that UK scientists and engineers will provide expertise on project components ranging from accelerator technology to data acquisition systems.

The LBNF consists of a proton-accelerator-driven neutrino source at Fermilab, located outside Chicago, and a detector 1300 km away at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota. The detector will be housed 1.5 km underground, where it will be shielded from cosmic rays that would otherwise interfere with experiments. The setup should enable researchers to precisely measure neutrino properties and weigh in on big mysteries such as proton decay and the dynamics of supernovae. The project, slated for completion in the mid 2020s, has a total estimated cost of $1.5 billion. The Department of Energy has requested $54.9 million in fiscal year 2018, up from $50 million this year, to pay for the excavation of the experimental hall at the Sanford mine.

About 1000 scientists from institutions in more than 30 countries are contributing to the LBNF/DUNE project. A major partner, CERN, has agreed to build a detector cryostat valued at $90 million. That contribution is actually worth even more, since the official figure does not take into account labor, cost escalation, and contingency funding, which are included in DOE cost estimates.