DUSEL: Part Deux

[rbwen]

This is from the Wenatchee World home page (this is all I can get without a subscription):

 

WENATCHEE — The University of Washington announced Monday it has gained new life for the idea of a deep underground science laboratory in the Cascades, but this time it won’t be near Leavenworth.

 

Instead it would be under Cowboy Mountain on the west side of Stevens Pass, about one mile southwest of the Stevens Pass summit.

 

This descrption is from the site below:

 

http://tinyurl.com/hwljo

 

Location: Cowboy Mt. is 16 miles north and west of the Cashmere Mountain DUSEL site. (See Fig. 1.) The peak is immediately above the BNSF Cascade and Pioneer tunnels, 2.3 miles from their west portals, on USFS land. Access is horizontal at a 1.56% positive gradient. Highway 2 and the railway connect the tunnel portals directly to the proposed DUSEL Science Campus (near Leavenworth). The rail and highway (west portal) distances are 35 and 42

miles, respectively. Thus the DUSEL Science Campus could conveniently support this second site. The neutrino baseline to FermiLab (2630 km) is ideal and to BNL (3830 km) well within the acceptable range.

 

rbwen

[MisterMo]

Might be a good spot. There are two tunnels under Cowboy Mountain already. The sun still comes up in the morning, birds chirp, etc., etc., Why not three?

[layton]

you're just looking for something to complain about.

 

and they've got a neutrino...john should like that.

[catbirdseat]

Michael, you might be disturbed to know that billions of extraterrestrial carabiners are streaming through your body every minute.

[olyclimber]

well, that is a much better location than the icicle.

[olyclimber]

UW pulls out of race to build underground lab

 

By Nick Perry

 

Seattle Times staff reporter

 

The world's deepest underground laboratory will not be built in the Cascades after all.

 

The University of Washington has pulled out of a race to build the facility after the National Science Foundation withdrew an offer for a $500,000 design grant. The NSF reversal came just 10 days after the agency awarded the grant.

 

The problem was that the UW wanted to switch sites from Cashmere Mountain near Leavenworth to Pioneer Tunnel near Stevens Pass.

 

"The secondary option that they suggested was substantially different from what had been reviewed," said Judy Sunley, an acting assistant director at NSF. "It's conceivable it would have some interesting things to offer," but the foundation simply didn't know enough about the site, she said.

 

The NSF is considering building a lab about a mile and a half underground so that researchers can study certain particles without interference from cosmic rays. Essentially, the rock above the lab would serve as a 7,000-foot-thick shield.

 

Just last month, the UW was celebrating after the NSF reinstated it into the race with two other states to build a lab. The foundation last year rejected the UW's application, but the university successfully appealed.

 

But Wick Haxton, a UW physics professor who helped craft the proposal, said the latest twist signaled it was time to withdraw for good.

 

"Any further appeal would run the risk of delaying the entire project, which would not benefit the larger scientific community," he said.

 

The UW switched focus from Cashmere Mountain after the site ran into opposition from nearby residents and outdoor enthusiasts. The 5.3-mile Pioneer Tunnel, which was briefly mentioned in the original grant application, provided access for workers who, in the 1920s, helped build the Cascade Tunnel, which handles rail traffic for Amtrak and BNSF Railway.

 

Two sites, in South Dakota and Colorado, remain in contention for the lab. The South Dakota proposal, which would utilize an abandoned gold mine in the small town of Lead, has gotten big boosts recently after that state pledged $36 million, and a private benefactor pledged $70 million toward the project, on condition the site is chosen.

 

 

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003126067_uwlab14m.html

[catbirdseat]

That's good, since the state of South Dakota needs those millions of dollars more than we do.

[bwrts]

Good Fukin Riddance!