Proposal for
the
National
Underground Laboratory
at Homestake
Prepared by the
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
for the State of South Dakota
February 2001
Proposed
Development of the
National
Underground Laboratory at Homestake
A Response to
the Criteria for Technical Evaluation of
an Underground Laboratory Site
Introduction
The
National Underground Laboratory Committee invited four sites in the United States
to indicate their interest in hosting a National Underground Laboratory to
support neutrino and other physics experiments. One of these sites is the Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, South
Dakota. The Homestake Mining Company
announced its intention to close the mine at or before the end of 2001 and
begin reclamation of the site. The
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the technological university
serving the region, acting on behalf of the State of South Dakota, has
responded to the National Underground Laboratory Committee’s invitation by
providing the following proposal. This
proposal demonstrates the feasibility of converting the 8,000-foot deep mine at
Homestake to the National Underground Laboratory (NUL) at Homestake.
Our
goal is to furnish the national and international scientific community with a
unique, superb quality, next generation underground laboratory. The NUL at Homestake would be deeper and
provide more space for future experiments than any other subterranean
laboratory in the world. Today,
Homestake employees mine for gold.
However, as soon as Homestake transfers the designated mine property to
the state, this experienced workforce would shift to the new task of excavating
detector chambers within the underground mine.
This
proposal divides the development of the NUL at Homestake into three phases as
shown below.
Phase
I of the plan would begin with the property transfer and would include the
construction of the three chambers for detectors A, B, & C at 7,400' within
the first year. Thus, there could be three underground laboratories ready for
experiments as early as December 2002.
Based on the needs of the scientific community, the mining workforce at
the NUL could continue to work to prepare additional chambers of various
dimensions at a variety of depths from 100' to 8,000' during future
expansion.
Phase
II would begin in the later portion of the first year and would subsequently
construct a rapid transport system from the surface to laboratory chambers at
7,400'. The new elevator system
constructed during phase II would provide a clean transport environment for
people and equipment. It would also be
capable of moving horizontal containers as large as 9' x 9' x 20' with a
maximum weight capacity of 30,000 lbs.
This
new elevator system would connect to the NUL science and support facilities
that would be constructed during Phase III.
The planning and design of the three new surface buildings would
actually begin in the latter part of Phase I.
These three new buildings would include the main science structure
containing an attractive visitor center, a receiving and warehouse facility,
and a building for the assembly and testing of large scientific equipment. This set of modern surface buildings would
provide an attractive and functional complex to support the broad scientific
activities at the above ground and underground laboratories.
While
the Technical Subcommittee provided criteria that specified large experimental
chambers for the purpose of comparative evaluation of potential sites, it is
likely that individual experiments will require underground chambers of
customized dimensions. This proposal’s
design and construction strategy can readily accommodate such variability in
chamber dimensions. South Dakota Tech
assembled a team of engineers, architects, and experts in rock stability and
mining construction to assist in generating this response to the Subcommittee’s
criteria. Their investigations
confirmed that it is feasible to use the extensive infrastructure of Homestake
as a base for the relatively rapid and orderly construction of the NUL at
Homestake.
South
Dakota Governor Bill Janklow, the state congressional delegation, the state
legislature, community leaders, and people throughout the state have expressed
support for the conversion of the mine to a world-class physics
laboratory. Copies of their letters of
support, sample articles from newspapers, and a joint state legislative
resolution are included in Appendices A, B, and C, respectively, to this
proposal. The Homestake Mining Company
has indicated a willingness to make the underground mine available for use as a
national laboratory. The company’s
offer to transfer the portion of the property that is required for the
laboratory is contingent on the company receiving federal indemnification. Such indemnification would release Homestake
from federal reclamation responsibilities and thereby permit the deep mine to
become available for use as the NUL at Homestake. Significant progress has been made to achieve this requirement
along with the associated development of a trust fund for future reclamation
and eventual removal of detector experiments.
Additional detail on the status of indemnification is provided later.
Underground
Physics
The
underground Homestake Mine in Lead, S.D., has played a significant role in the
development of subterranean physics.
Dr. Raymond Davis established a solar neutrino detector at Homestake’s
4,850' level in 1965. That experiment continues to provide valuable measurement
data today. From this initial
accomplishment at Homestake, subterranean physics experiments have blossomed
throughout the world during the past 30 years.
There are now major international underground laboratories in Japan,
Italy, France, Russia, and Canada. The
scientific experiments at these laboratories range from spectral and flavor
investigations of the solar neutrino emission, the behavior of atmospheric
neutrinos as they pass through the earth, neutrino emission from supernova and
black hole formation, to searches for dark matter, double beta decay, and
proton decay. There also are
underground accelerators designed to duplicate nuclear reactions at the
energies characteristic of stellar interiors.
To further investigate the neutrino oscillation phenomenon, new long
distance neutrino beam experiments are being planned. Those experiments will direct artificially-produced beams of
neutrinos through relatively long segments of the earth to distant underground
detectors.
As a complement to the growing interest in underground physics, specialists in other sciences and engineering technologies are beginning to recognize similar advantages and opportunities for future progress in underground environments. Examples include investigations of biological processes in dark and radiation-free conditions, geophysical studies of earth movements due to natural and human-related causes, the manufacture and operation of silicon-based electronic and quantum computer components in low cosmic ray environments, the production and storage of high purity materials in low background environments, microgravity experiments in deep excavations, and the development and use of new medical technology. The extensive capacity at Homestake to accommodate a range of underground physics experiments and subterranean laboratories for other scientific disciplines would provide for an interdisciplinary campus-like atmosphere. In summary, the characteristics of the future underground laboratory at Homestake would provide a scientific environment for progressive investigations and discoveries, some of which are impossible to envision today.
Underground
Physics at Homestake
The
primary reason for locating detectors and experiments in underground
laboratories is to shield these systems from cosmic rays; i.e., the deeper the
location, the lower the remnant cosmic ray flux. The depths of current underground laboratories range from 2,000'
(600 meters) to 6,800' (2,000 meters).
The Homestake Mine extends to 8,000' (2,440 meters) or 7,100 mean water
equivalent (mwe), and the NUL at Homestake would provide the United States with
a laboratory that is deeper and less affected by cosmic ray background than any
other site in the world.
The
Homestake Mine has a set of horizontal levels approximately every 100'-150'
from the surface to 8,000'.
Consequently, it is possible to locate laboratories at almost any depth
between these extremes or to have moveable experiments that conduct
measurements as a function of depth or cosmic ray flux. This proposal envisions laboratory chambers
in the NUL at Homestake that are designed for a minimum operational lifetime of
50 years (e.g., the existing neutrino experimental chamber at Homestake is now
36 years old) and are tailored to satisfy the specific physical needs of each
experiment.
Three-Phase
Construction Plan for NUL at Homestake
The
design of this next generation facility includes major changes both in the
portion of the Homestake Mine that would constitute the underground laboratory
and in the surface structures that would be an integral part of the overall
facility. To accomplish the
construction of the NUL in an organized manner, a team of skilled internal
workers, managers and professional contractors would be employed. A major advantage of the Homestake site is
the fact that the mining infrastructure is already in place to begin
construction of these new tunnels and experimental chambers. This point translates to reduced
construction costs and the ability to implement a construction plan as soon as
indemnification is provided to Homestake Mining Company, the transfer of the
Homestake Mine is completed, necessary decisions are made, and funding sources
are identified.
Phase I
The
development at the 7,400' level of three model 18m x 18m x 100m detector
chambers (A, B, & C) and the associated support facilities constitute the
major components of Phase I. In
addition, design of specific parts of the surface building complex would start
along with work focused on general site preparation. Another component of this building design would key on the
necessity of providing temporary office spaces by installing modular buildings
near the Ross Shaft. A new entrance
would be provided to the NUL at Homestake.
Separate access routes would be used in the surface building complex for
scientific staff and visitors.
As
illustrated in Appendix D, an existing drift at 4,850' in the Homestake Mine
connects the two main vertical shafts, the Ross and the Yates. This plan proposes to build a parallel drift
between the No. 6 Winze and Yates shafts at 7,400', followed eventually by
another similar tunnel at 8,000'. As
illustrated in Appendix E, the new
horizontal main access and ventilation drifts at the 7,400' level would be
excavated during the first year of this project. It would be possible to quickly excavate three chambers of Gran
Sasso size (18m x 18m x 100m) between this main drift and the two air-bypass
drifts. The main axis of the three chambers would be aligned perpendicular to
the rock foliation. Two 18' x 18'
access drifts would be excavated between the main access drift and each
detector chamber. An additional 12' x 12' access drift would be excavated
between the midpoint of the detector chambers and the bypass exhaust
drift. This drift feeds the exhaust air
from the chambers to the main mine exhaust system via shaft #31 and out the Oro
Hondo surface exit.
Two-dimensional,
numerical modeling studies performed independently by NIOSH and RE/SPEC arrive
at the same conclusion – it is feasible to construct stable 18m x 27m x 100m
rooms of either mailbox or horseshoe shape at the 7,400' level in the Homestake
Mine. Conservative rock properties were
used in both numerical analyses. An
abstract of RE/SPEC’s report is included in Appendix F.
The conclusions from the preceding modeling
investigations are validated by the existence of many large, stable openings
that currently exist in the Homestake Mine.
Two examples of such large openings are the 170' long x 40' wide x 23'
high refrigeration plant machine room located on the 6,950' level and the 150'
long x 35' wide x 17' high maintenance room at the 7,400' level. These two relatively large rooms were
constructed more than 13 years ago with consideration for rock foliation. Both rooms are well preserved. The Homestake Mine has experienced other
successful, temporary stoping excavations at depths exceeding 7,000' that were
as high as 150' and more than 50' wide.
Two
ancillary 50’ x 20’ x 200’ chambers would be built at 7,400' as multi-purpose
spaces. One ancillary chamber space
would house restrooms, an emergency refuge area, a first aid/medical room, a
computer room, and a coffee/tea/lunch room.
The second chamber would be built at this same level to house the
primary air handling unit, chiller, maintenance shop, and other necessary
utilities.
Following
normal underground construction practice, all laboratory chambers and major
tunnels in the proposed NUL would be supported with cable rock bolts, resin
rebar, wire mesh, and 4” of shotcrete.
The combination of strong rock properties found throughout the Homestake
Mine and the proper rock support system as illustrated in Appendix F would
yield a stable chamber with a construction safety factor of 3 or better. Spraying several millimeters of MineGuard
(marketed as RockGuard in the U.S.) would be utilized to finish the troweled
shotcrete on the walls and ceilings.
Dynatec, the mine construction company that has provided extensive
services to Homestake, successfully used MineGuard as a final plastic sealant
on the internal surfaces of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. The floor of each chamber would be 12” of
concrete. All the access drifts at
7,400' also would have full rock support, shotcrete walls and roofs, and
concrete floors. These access
corridors would be 18' x 18' and useable for moving equipment and people with
rubber-wheeled, electric transport vehicles.
Appendix
G provides a schematic of the flow of entry air through the Ross shaft.
Ventilation air would be provided by individual air handling units (AHU), fed
from a primary AHU that filters and preconditions the air. A schematic in Appendix G illustrates the
feasibility of channeling excess ambient air from the Ross intake shaft around
the chambers in a separate 12' x 12' bypass drift to provide purge ventilation
and dilution of exhaust air flow from the chambers during any major emergency
situations. Each chamber and all
underground corridors would be maintained at “white room” conditions by High
Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration.
Air in the chambers and all underground corridors would be regulated for
a maximum temperature of 18o C and a maximum RH of 60%. The chambers would be held at positive air
pressurization and air locks at each chamber access would maintain cleanliness.
According to engineering consultants from Dunham Associates, prefabricated,
site-assembled cleanrooms could be constructed within the chambers to provide
conditions as low as Class 100,000 or as high as Class 1/10, depending on the
experimental requirements as shown in Appendix H.
The
preceding plan for Phase I is possible because the Homestake Mine presently has
elevator access to all levels from the surface to 8,000’ via a combination of
either the Yates and No. 6-Winze elevators or the Ross and No. 6-Winze
elevators. During the one-year Phase I
construction period, the present configuration of the Ross and No. 6-Winze
elevator systems would be retrofitted to provide a dry transport environment.
Air Conditioning
A new chiller plant would be installed on the 7,100' level and would be sized to handle the internal heat gain in air from the underground laboratory facilities as well as the heat transfer from the rocks surrounding the various chambers, shafts, and corridors. Further description of the chiller network and ventilation system is available in Appendix H.
Power
The present underground electric power grid at the Homestake Mine consists of three substations and can supply up to 32 MW. Black Hills Power provides the electrical feed to Homestake via a redundant “looped” system. The company’s system-wide service reliability during the past five years is greater than 99.98%. Decommissioning one of the substations will still allow the resulting power supply to send 17.5MW to the subsurface operations of the NUL. This is three times the estimated power consumption. Further description of the power system is available in Appendix I.
Communications
Current Internet, voice, and radio communication systems at the Homestake Mine are state-of-the-art. The underground area is equipped with 24-pair fiber optic cables that are connected to a SONET ring architecture at the surface. This Black Hills FiberCom system was installed in 2000 and provides redundancy, 99.9999% reliability, and connectivity up to 100Mbps. Further description of the communications system is available in Appendix J.
Control Systems
FIXDMACS are used to monitor the entire underground mine, including pumps, fans, and various sensor systems such as the CO monitors. This system is equipped with inverters for increased reliability. Further description of the control systems is available in Appendix K.
Safety Systems
Safety
would be the single most important element in the design and operation of the
NUL at Homestake. All laboratory areas
would be protected from fire by suitable wet, foam, dry, or gaseous fire
suppression systems to satisfy the use requirements and yet minimize potential
damage to sensitive equipment and associated electronics. Further description of the safety systems is
available in Appendix L.
Phase II
Planning for Phase II would start during the last quarter of Phase I. During Phase II, workers would extend the Yates Shaft, which presently goes to 5,000', to 8,000' as shown in Appendix D and new steel supports would be added throughout the shaft’s length. A new hoist and elevator system would be incorporated into the renovation of the Yates Shaft. This new Yates elevator system would have a capacity of 15 short tons and would directly deliver horizontally-placed containers as large as 9' x 9' x 20' to any level between the surface and 8,000’. A diagram of the renovated Yates elevator system is provided in Appendix M. In addition to its use in transporting equipment at 1,000 fpm, this elevator would also transport the vehicles that would move groups of up to 20 people (i.e., scientists, laboratory staff, or visitors) between the surface and other levels. The new Yates system also would include a separate, smaller elevator for transporting up to six scientists and staff at 1,800 fpm. The access concept is to permit scientists to leave their offices at the surface and be transported via a clean, dry elevator to their underground laboratories within 10-15 minutes. During the renovation process, the Ross and No. 6-Winze elevators would be employed to move waste rock, personnel, and equipment to locations between the surface and 8,000'. After renovation is complete, the Yates elevator system would continue to be used to transport experimental apparatus, scientists, and visitors to all levels between the surface and 8,000’. The Ross and No. 6-Winze elevators would then be dedicated to hoisting rock, mining equipment, and mine personnel. In addition, the Ross and No. 6-Winze elevators would serve as the second, independent access and egress routes for laboratory personnel and staff in case of emergencies.
Phase III
Phase
III would include the construction of a three-building science complex on the
surface near the Yates Shaft. The three
new buildings would include: 1) a four-story science building of 175,000 square
feet that contains spaces for at least two large science laboratories, two
cleanrooms located adjacent to the laboratories, convenient office spaces,
seminar and meeting rooms, restrooms, a library, a central computer room, a
large structure for equipment staging and testing, a cafeteria, a dormitory,
and a visitor center with a orientation theater, 2) a receiving and warehouse
building of 41,000 square feet that is connected via an overhead pedestrian
passageway to the main science building, and 3) a 32,000 square feet structure
that contains a machine shop, an additional staging/testing room, and an
overhead pedestrian passageway to the main science building. The heights of the staging/testing and
cleanrooms would be 60 feet and 30 feet, respectively. The cleanrooms associated with the
laboratory and assembly spaces would be staged with regard to the level of
cleanliness. For example, sensitive
materials being transported from a corridor with a Class 10,000 environment
could enter the Class 100 to Class 1/10 areas. Pressurized airlocks would be
employed between rooms of differing classification and they would be of
sufficient internal size to allow the passage of large scientific equipment. A new access tunnel would connect one end of
the science building to the Yates elevator system and would provide a large and
clean passageway for the convenient movement of equipment and people to the
underground laboratory. In addition, a
large external door in this new access tunnel would accommodate the movement of
equipment and apparatus between other surface buildings and the Yates elevator
system.
The
overall functional design of the new surface facilities for the NUL at
Homestake is modeled after Gran Sasso.
However, the Homestake site allows the laboratory to take maximum
advantage of the much closer proximity between the underground detector
chambers and the surface facilities.
The feasibility of the site supporting nearly 300,000 square feet of
quality space is shown in the draft architectural drawings in Appendix N. This
architectural plan would provide for the construction of three modern buildings
to complement the two existing buildings on the site that would be kept and
utilized. These latter two buildings
would be renovated and used as headquarters for operations associated with
underground administration, safety, excavation, and facility maintenance. A new entrance would be built as shown in Appendix
O. Separate access routes would be used in the surface building complex for
scientific staff and visitors. These
access routes and the two-level security design are illustrated in Appendix O.
It
should be noted that the available mining workforce provides for the option to
excavate an underground chamber volume of about 9 x 106 ft3
(which is equivalent to approximately eight or more new experimental chambers
at 7,400'), and one additional multi-purpose ancillary chamber at 7,400'.
Background
Radiation at Homestake
The
flux of high-energy cosmic ray muons is reduced as a function of depth. At Homestake, the representative measured
fluxes are 4 muons per m2 per day at 4850', 0.4 muons per m2
per day at 6,950', and 0.13 muons per m2 per day at 8,000'. Because the NUL at Homestake would contain
the deepest level of any laboratory in the world, it would provide the
significant advantage of the lowest cosmic ray muon flux.
A
relatively low background due to local radioactive sources is another desirable
characteristic for a NUL. Radon levels
of 2.5–3 pCi/liter at the 4,850’ level and 3-4 pCi/liter at 7,400’ have been
recently measured in the Homestake Mine.
This range of radon levels is very similar to the radon levels reported
for the cavern of the SNO detector at Sudbury before it was treated with
MineGuard. The radon level in Homestake
is lower than that in Gran Sasso, 4-6 pCi/liter, and Kamiokande, up to 15
pCi/liter. As noted above, workers
would apply the Urylon HH453 (MineGuard or RockGuard) coating to the laboratory
chambers in the NUL at Homestake and this polyurethane material, according to
J. Boger et al., NIM A449, 172 (2000), provides a radon attenuation coefficient
of 2 x 10-7.
Experts
are now surveying the 220Rn and 222Rn levels in various
parts of the mine with a Durridge Rad7 detector. Since 220Rn has a 55 second half life, its
concentration correlates to the rock 232Th concentration in the
local region. The concentration of 222Rn,
with a 3.8 day half life, represents an average 238U concentration
in a much larger region. The comparison
of these two isotopic radon concentrations would provide a guide for locating
the proposed experimental chambers in relatively low background rock.
The
comparable radon concentrations suggest that representative Homestake rock may
have the same or similar level of 238U
and 232Th as typical Sudbury rock, namely 1.1 mgram/gram of 238U and 6.4 mgrams/gram of 232Th. The table in Appendix Q summarizes some USGS
data for 238U, 232Th, and 40K from rock in the
Homestake mine and two other underground locations. The ranges of reported concentrations for the U and Th isotopes
of interest overlap the listed concentrations for Sudbury. Therefore, the available evidence suggests
that the concentrations of U and Th in representative Homestake rock are
similar to other underground laboratories situated in rock environments. Because of the inherent heterogeneity of U,
Th, and K levels in different rock units, it would be prudent to measure their
concentrations in the rock cores obtained during the proposed geotechnical
studies.
Preparations
to gather reliable measurements of the neutron background signals (i.e., rates
and energies) resulting from natural rock radioactivity are in progress for the
Homestake Mine. A neutron spectrometer
is being constructed and tested, and measurements with this sensitive
spectrometer are scheduled to begin at Homestake by mid-May. Further description is provided in Appendix
P.
Geology and
Seismology of Homestake
Typical
Homestake rock from the Poorman and Ellison formations consists of phyllite,
micaceous phyllite, quartz, quartzites, and schist. Extensive geotechnical and rock mechanic studies have revealed
that the Homestake rock is strong and provides long-term stability for
excavated areas of quite large dimensions.
The relatively low earthquake potential for the area is evident from the
USGS map in Appendix Q. Another USGS
map in Appendix Q shows that there are no fault structures in South Dakota or
adjacent states.
Indemnification
The
Homestake Mining Company has indicated their interest in supporting the
creation of the NUL at Homestake through the transfer of ownership of the
8,000' deep mine and the appropriate surface support facilities. However, such a transfer can only be
achieved if Homestake receives release from the federal reclamation continuous
ownership responsibilities through federal indemnification legislation. Homestake has established an exceptional
reputation within the environmental community for its responsible approach to
reclamation and remediation. A listing
of the many awards and recognitions that environmental organizations have
provided Homestake can be found in Appendix R.
Homestake’s
excellent environmental record is an important component in the request to
Congress for indemnification. Through
the leadership of Sen. Tom Daschle, with the support of Sen. Tim Johnson and
Rep. John Thune, draft indemnification legislation is being prepared with
participation from national environmental organizations. This legislation provides for the
indemnification of Homestake for the past use of the property to be transferred
and the indemnification of the State of South Dakota for the future use of the
property as the National Underground Laboratory.
The draft legislation includes provisions for insurance
and an environmental trust fund as part of the indemnification of future
operations. The trust fund would
provide for the removal of detectors at the conclusion of their experimental
lifetimes. The combination of
insurance, trust fund, and federal indemnification would supply the resources
necessary to assure that the NUL operates in an environmentally responsive
manner. The draft legislation also
includes the contingency that indemnification would be provided only if the
Director of NSF designates the need for a NUL at Homestake.
Summary of Estimated Costs
The
feasibility study of creating the next generation NUL at Homestake included the
development of cost estimates for the construction of new facilities plus
desirable upgrades of existing infrastructure at the Homestake site. For this proposal, South Dakota Tech
assembled engineers, architects, and experts in rock stability and mining
construction with appropriate experience to provide preliminary cost estimates
for the location of the NUL at Homestake.
Phase I
This
phase would complete the transition from the operation as a gold mine to
operation as the NUL at Homestake. The
cost of operating the infrastructure transferred from Homestake and the cost
for the miners necessary for the construction of detector chambers would be
included in Phase I. Additionally, the
cost for the development of the 7,400’ level, including materials to complete
the finished construction of detector laboratory chambers, associated drifts
and air movement tunnels, mechanical and electrical support equipment, the
construction of science and support chambers, the sealing of unused drifts, and
the preparation of the 8,000' level drift between the No. 6 Winze and the new
Yates Shaft are included in Phase I.
The total cost of Phase I
during the three-year construction period is $40,450,659.
Phase II
This phase would provide the
upgrading and completion of the Yates Shaft to the 8,000’ level. The upgrading of the Yates Shaft would begin
in the first year and be completed by the end of the third year. The Yates conversion includes the complete
replacement of the existing shaft to the 5,000' level and the extension of the
shaft with new construction to the 8,000' level. The upgrade of the Yates Shaft includes the replacement of the
present first 5,000' of the wood support structure of the Yates Shaft with
steel support and elevator guides. The
construction of the new shaft from the 5,000' level to the 8,000' level would
use a concrete shell to support the construction of the steel support
throughout the 8,000' shaft.
This phase would also
include the provision of new hoist motors, hoist building, headframe, and
elevator. The new elevator is
illustrated in Appendix M and
includes the capability to transport a 9' x 9' x 20' container or a people
mover for 20 persons, at a speed of 1,000 feet per minute with a total weight
of 15 tons. There would also be a
second elevator, more typical of traditional office elevators, for the
transport of scientists and staff at 1,800 feet per minute.
The total cost of Phase II is $42,654,305.
Phase III
The primary focus of Phase III is the construction of the surface facilities to support the next generation NUL at Homestake. Engineering studies have demonstrated that it is feasible to construct facilities of approximately 300,000 square feet in the area presented used for warehouses, shops, and the former foundry. This area combines the immediate advantage of ready access to the adjacent upgraded Yates Shaft with exquisite views of the entire Black Hills surrounding Homestake. The preliminary design includes a new entrance to the NUL befitting a world-class national laboratory.
While
the detailed design of the facilities to be included in the new structures must
await the implementation of a detailed planning process to be provided by those
who would use the NUL, the illustrations in Appendix N demonstrate the range of
potential capabilities available at this site.
A
key feature of the surface facilities concept is the ability for a scientist to
leave their office or laboratory and proceed in a “white room” environment from
the surface to the 7,400' level detector laboratory in 15-20 minutes. Our goal in the design of the NUL is to make
the traditional operations of the mine transparent to the scientists.
The
facilities also would provide for visitor and educational outreach
services. Visitors would be able to
experience a science center, a museum, and an educational program that includes
a trip in a people mover to a 7,400' level detector laboratory. The visitor activities, while located in the
main science building, would be provided without interfering with the
scientific experiments of the NUL.
The total cost of Phase III
is $53,244,526.
NUL Operations
This continuous component provides for the development of a management and operating structure to assure the development of the NUL through the construction phase to become a fully operating national laboratory. There is need for funding for the implementation of trustees and advisory boards, a director and staff, the development of detector planning and the implementation of the many program elements that must be included in the NUL.
Additionally,
this component would provide funding for the continual development of
laboratories at the 7,400’ level and elsewhere through the use of the extensive
available workforce. The workforce
would be able to build a capacity of nearly 5,000,000 cubic feet of finished
laboratory space to accommodate the future need for detectors or other
experiments. The cost of such additional construction could be included in the
cost for the detector experiments.
Additionally,
at the end of the underground construction, the full operation of the mine
maintenance and operation would be transferred to the operating expense of the
NUL. The annual cost for operation of
the NUL at Homestake following the construction phase will depend primarily on
the number of staff provided for the full operation as a research center. The cost for the underground operation is
estimated to be $4,072,108 in the fourth year, the first year of full NUL
operations. If approximately $10
million is provided (assuming Gran
Sasso as a guide) for the other laboratory operations, then the underground
expenses are approximately 29% of the total for the NUL at Homestake. As the budget for the science operations
increases, then the preparation of the expenses for underground maintenance and
operations should become a smaller percentage of the overall cost of
operations.
The operational component is
estimated to be $30,841,468.
The proposed funding to
complete the construction of the NUL at Homestake is:
Year 1 $
47,909,556
Year 2 $
43,560,319
Year 3 $
44,160,393
Year 4 $
31,560,690
Power Costs
Rates
for power in the Black Hills are below the national average. As evident from the letter in Appendix T,
Black Hills Power and Light Company would provide an economic development rate
of 2.5 cents per kWh during the transition and start-up period of this project,
which is a reduction in operating costs of approximately $310,000 per
year. A rate of 5.2 to 5.8 cents per
kWh is expected for normal operations.
Consultants
Cost
estimates for the shaft upgrade were provided by Dynatec, the mine construction
company that has provided extensive services to Homestake and also completed
the installation of the detector chambers at the Sudbury Mine, conducted this
latter order of magnitude cost study.
RE/SPEC provided the evaluation of rock stability in the 7,400 level
detector chambers. RE/SPEC is a
technical firm that specializes in rock mechanics, the design of underground
storage chambers, and field services.
RE/SPEC provided testing and modeling information for use in the
construction of WIPP and has been an engineering and design partner to client
organizations for more than 27 years.
Dunham Associates provided the evaluation of the electrical, mechanical
and communication infrastructure available at Homestake and the design of
additional capabilities. Dunham Associates
provides mechanical, electrical, and structural consulting engineering services
for industry, education, and health care, including clean rooms for research
and manufacturing. TSP Three
Architectural firm provided the conceptual design of the surface facilities,
site preparation, the new entrance, and surface to underground transportation
development.
Management
We expect the management at
NUL at Homestake to be consistent with the structure employed at other national
laboratories and observatories. This would include the formation of a
university consortium that would designate trustee and advisory groups to
select the leadership of the laboratory. South Dakota Tech is aware of the
management of other laboratories and observatories through extensive
discussions with Associated Universities Inc., Universities Research
Association, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, as well as NSF centers such as the
National Center of Atmospheric Research.
Clearly, the NUL at Homestake must provide the scientists who have a
vital interest in the operation of the NUL the opportunity to participate in
the determination of the management and operation of the overall laboratory.
An important first step in
the development of the NUL is the preparation of a plan for the construction of
the detector laboratory chambers. This
plan should include physicists from the broad international community who may
have an interest in locating detector experiments in the NUL at Homestake. The initial draft of this plan could be
prepared through a workshop held at Lead, S.D. later this year. Ideally, the designation of the NUL at
Homestake, including the transfer of the property from Homestake and the
provision of initial funding and the designation of trustees and management can
be complete in time to schedule such a workshop in the fall of 2001.
Educational
and Outreach Plans
More
than four million people annually visit the Black Hills. It is expected that many of these visitors
will want to tour the NUL at Homestake.
Educational visitor experiences are an integral component of the
proposal. This proposal envisions
providing interactive exhibits, observation galleries, theatre programs,
seminars, and other programs for the tens of thousands of annual visitors. These visitors would include tourists,
community organizations, K-12 students and teachers, college students, senior
citizens, and area families. Internet
capabilities allow for people from around the globe to observe and learn of the
discoveries being made at the laboratory.
The
NUL will also be uniquely positioned to provide outreach to Native Americans in
the region. Rapid City, S.D., has the largest Native American population of any
city with a population of more than 30,000 in the United States. South Dakota
is home to nine Indian Reservations and Native Americans comprise 15% of the
state’s population. The NUL would have a remarkable opportunity to develop
programs that increase the science and technology preparedness of thousands of
American Indian students in the region.
South Dakota Tech has a long history of providing far-reaching educational outreach to reservations, tribal colleges, K-12, and the broader community.
Regional
Services/Quality of Life
The
Black Hills region serves as a family destination as well as the site for
hundreds of conferences and conventions each year. Homestake is located within 10 miles via a state highway from
I-90. Air travel is available through the Rapid City Regional Airport, a
one-hour drive from Homestake. The
airport is serviced by Northwest, United, and Delta, with 12 arriving and 12
departing flights daily. Charter
flights from Spearfish and Rapid City. The 1.2 million acre Black Hills
National Forest, Badlands National Park, and area state parks offer countless
outdoor recreational activities including hiking, biking, skiing, snowboarding,
camping, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and mountain climbing. Local communities offer cultural and arts
programming including a symphony orchestra, community theatre and other
performing arts organizations. Housing
is affordable and crime rates are extremely low. Area weather is surprisingly mild and dry, and the air and water
are clean.
Conclusion
This
study has demonstrated that it is feasible to construct a design that is
compatible with the guidelines of the National Technical Subcommittee for
creating the NUL at Homestake. The
development of specifications and details of the actual laboratory await the
determination of the need for this laboratory and the designation of
appropriate operating and management processes.
South
Dakota appreciates your interest in Homestake as a site for the national
underground laboratory. The State and
its citizens are eager to host the laboratory and the scientific discoveries
that would be made there.
