Canfranc Underground Laboratory Explained

Canfranc Underground Laboratory - LSC
Established:	2006
City:	Canfranc, Aragón (Spain)
Type:	Low-background physics
Website:	www.lsc-canfranc.es
Operating Agency:	University of Zaragoza

The Canfranc Underground Laboratory (Spanish: Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc or LSC) is an underground scientific facility located in the former railway tunnel of Somport under Monte Tobazo (Pyrenees) in Canfranc. The laboratory, 780 m deep and protected from cosmic radiation,^[1] is mainly devoted to study rarely occurring natural phenomena such as the interactions of neutrinos of cosmic origin or dark matter with atomic nuclei.^{[2] [3] [4]}

Access to the tunnel containing the laboratory is at the Estación Internacional de Canfranc, a former international railway station in the village of Canfranc.^{[5] [4] [6]}

Experiments

As of 2023, the following experiments are ongoing in Canfranc:^[7]

• ANAIS, WIMP dark matter search experiment
• DArT, experiment to measure the radioactive activation of argon
• TREX-DM, WIMP dark matter search experiment
• NEXT, neutrinoless double beta decay experiment
• CROSS, Cryogenic Rare-event Observatory with Surface Sensitivity, searching for neutrinoless double beta decay
• SuperKGd (also known as SUPERK-GD or under similar names), experiment for mapping of background noise signal for the Super-Kamiokande neutrino telescope in Japan. There is a plan to operate the Super-Kamiokande detector with Gadolinium salt dissolved into the water-mass of the detector. This operation would introduce unknown backgrounds in the neutrino-detection process of Super-Kamiokande, and SuperK-Gd is mapping those backgrounds.
• BabyIAXO, preparing the ground for the full infrastructure of the IAXO (International Axion Observatory) which is a new generation axion helioscope and its main goal is to detect axions (or other similar particles) potentially emitted by the Sun’s core in large quantities
• GOLLUM, underground biology experiment

As of 2023, the following experiments were described as proposals:^[8]

• Multicellular structure formation in response to low level background radiation, a biology experiment
• Microorganisms with enhanced DNA damage repair abilities, a biology experiment
• Interaction between host and pathogens under low-radiation background, a biology experiment
• THE MODERN-E PROJECT, a study of wireless transmission of geotechnical data through clay rocks. Through its works, it aims to achieve a wireless monitoring system capable of operating with the measurement instrumentation commonly used for monitoring the main geotechnical parameters that are relevant for the operation of the future nuclear waste repository
• CADEX, the Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment
• Luria-Delbrück 2.0, studying cosmic radiation to evaluate its possible role in the mutation rate of bacteria
• Bacteria in heavy water, a biology experiment
• NEXT-HD, the fourth phase of the NEXT program
• NaI-CGF, this proposal aims to build and commission an underground facility to grow ultra-high radiopurity NaI(Tl) scintillators
• HENSA, High Efficiency Neutron-Spectrometry Array
• ARQ-Qubits, aims at developing a new technology to mitigate the effects of radiation on qubits
• DAMIC, Dark Matter in CCDs, a dark matter detection experiment
• LU, Low-level γ spectroscopy with High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors, a radiopurity experimemt
• CUNA, an underground nuclear astrophysics facility

As of 2023, the following experiments have completed their activities in Canfranc:^[9]

• ArDM, WIMP dark matter search experiment
• ETSEC, preliminary study for the Einstein Telescope project
• BiPo, radio-purity of materials experiment
• ROSEBUD, dark matter experiment
• LAGUNA, neutrino observatory study (just a study, no real experiment hardware built and no measurements of any sort took place)
• GOLLUM, underground biology experiment

External links

• Home
• The Canfranc Underground Astroparticle Laboratory: Experimental Program Status, Results & Prospects presentation, Angel Morales, University of Zaragoza
• Estación internacional de Canfranc. Ayuntamiento de Canfranc

42.7494°N -0.5163°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cosmic-ray muon flux at Canfranc Underground Laboratory . 10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7239-9 . Eur. Phys. J. C 79 (8) 721 (2019) .
2. Web site: The Canfranc Underground Laboratory . lsm.in2p3.fr . 22 March 2014 . 1 July 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140701022515/http://www-lsm.in2p3.fr/ilias/n2/Docs/Paper_idm04_LSC1.pdf . dead.
3. Web site: Canfranc Underground Laboratory is ready to go . 212.71.251.65/aspera. 22 March 2014 . 22 March 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140322195659/http://212.71.251.65/aspera//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448&Itemid=98 . dead.
4. Web site: The secret lab where Nazis hid gold . BBC Travel . BBC Reel . July 15, 2019 . August 9, 2019 . Iliana Mier.
5. Web site: Obscura . Atlas . The Abandoned Nazi Train Station Turned Underground Astroparticle Laboratory . . 22 March 2014.
6. Book: Analysis of Environmental Radionuclides . 9780080553375 . 22 March 2014 . Povinec . Pavel . 28 July 2011.
7. Web site: Current Experiments Canfranc Underground Laboratory . LSC Canfranc.
8. Web site: Proposals - LSC Canfranc . LSC Canfranc.
9. Web site: Past Experiments - LSC Canfranc . LSC Canfranc.