For more information, contact Majorana Collaboration Spokesperson: Steve Elliott (elliotts@lanl.gov)
Majorana is one of several experiments to be sited at the the Sanford Underground Laboratory. Its combination of depth, available space and established scientific track record means that this facility is on the forefront of the world?s effort in underground science. The Majorana collaboration would like to thank our colleagues and hosts at the Sanford Underground Laboratory for their support.
In addition to avoiding cosmic rays themselves, the Majorana experiment needs to be deep underground because cosmic rays can create radioactive isotopes in detector and support materials. For this reason, we are not only building the experiment underground, but we are also fabricating the copper necessary for detector construction underground using a process known as ?electro-forming.? The Majorana experiment will be one of the projects sited at the 4850-ft. level of the mine.