PROJECTS ELSEWHERE

CHINA:

Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory in Kaiping, Jiangmen, aims to determine mass hierarchy of the three types of neutrinos and their oscillation properties, using a 20,000-tonne liquid scintillator detector.

JAPAN:

Hyper-kamiokande detector at the Kamioka Observatory in Hida aims to determine mass hierarchy and study cosmic neutrinos, using 2 cylindrical tanks filled with 1 million metric tonnes of ultrapure water as detector.

EUROPE:

The Large Apparatus studying Grand Unification and Neutrino Astrophysics, or LAGUNA, is a European project aimed at building a next-generation neutrino observatory.

INO’S woes

The state-of-the-art laboratory might inspire pride amongst the scientific community, but it has had a very troubled history. Mistaken by a section of the public and some activists for many things that it is not, the Rs 1,500-crore INO project has faced several objections and protests. There have been fears that the facility was meant to store nuclear waste from the country’s nuclear power plants, or that the experiments underground would lead to the release of radioactive substances.

A major part of the INO project so far has been to carry out an outreach and educational exercise to dispel such misconceptions. At several public meetings, scientists have had to clarify that what they were building was not a nuclear arms factory, and that it would not emit harmful radiation, affect soil or water, or damage forests.

Even environmental trouble of the kind it faces now is not new to the INO. The original site selected for the project was located in Singara, near Ooty, in the Nilgiris that had a hard, rocky surface. The site was suggested by the Geological Survey of India based on the requirements of having a large underground facility. Two hydel power stations, one functional, the other abandoned, in the vicinity had ensured that some infrastructure, including a series of tunnels, was already present. The INO team was all set to move in at that location. But the nearby Mudhumalai National Park was declared a tiger reserve during the same time, and environmental clearance to the project was denied for this reason.

A search for an alternative site led the INO team to the present location of the project in Theni district.