History
A bit of history
In 1985, the Nuclear and Astroparticle Physics research group from the University of Zaragoza, lead by Prof. Angel Morales, set off the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in the Central Pyrenees (Spain). This Laboratory consisted of a main hall of about 120 m2 and two halls of about 18 m2. The scientific program of the Laboratory along those years, in which more than 50 researchers belonging to 12 institutions from 8 different countries took part, was basically focused on: a) Search for double beta decay with germanium (IGEX), b) Search for Dark Matter with scintillators (NAI-32 and ANAIS), semiconductors (IGEX-DM) and bolometers (ROSEBUD), and c) R&D program for the development of ultralow background detectors (AMBAR).
More recently, the construction of a road tunnel between Spain and France, parallel to the railway one, provided a unique opportunity. A. Morales, strong of the success of two decades of research and of his determination, convinced the Spanish authorities of building a new, larger laboratory, with fully international standards. It has two experimental halls (40x15x12 m3 and 15x10x7 m3) and all the necessary underground services. The depth is 850 m under Mount Tobazo, the total area is about 1250 m2 corresponding to a volume of about 10 000 m3. The facility was completed and inaugurated in 2006. However, one year later signs of rock instabilities started to appear and the laboratory was closed. A complete revision of the original project was performed by the Saragossa University and the rock support structures necessary to guarantee the safety of the personnel and of the properties were installed. Moreover, a dedicated structure of optical fibers continuously monitors now rock stability.
The new laboratory is run by a Consortium between the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Inovación, the Government of Aragon and the University of Saragossa. The underground facilities have been completed and delivered by the University of Saragossa to the Consortium on 30 June 2010. The "old" underground infrastructures are being integrated in the LSC according to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Saragossa University (total area 1560 m2, total volume 10500 m3).
The experimental activities are supported by a dedicated building at Canfranc Estación with mechanical workshop, specialized laboratories, offices for the LSC personnel and users, headquarters, conference, exhibition and meeting rooms, available since January 2011.
Seven experiments have already been approved (ANAIS, ROSEBUD and ArDM on dark matter, BiPo, NEXT and SuperK-GD on neutrinos and GEODYN on geodynamics) and more are under discussion (CUNA on nuclear astrophysics). The scientific users are 214 from 15 Countries
