Modane Underground Laboratory

The Modane Underground Laboratory is a subterranean particle physics laboratory located within the Fréjus Road Tunnel near Modane, France. It is jointly operated by the French Centre [national de la recherche scientifique|National Center for Scientific Research] and the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et [aux énergies alternatives|Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission] in partnership with the University of Savoie.

Size

The laboratory sits almost exactly in the middle of the road tunnel, which links Modane to Bardonecchia, Italy, below Fréjus Peak. This depth translates to a meter [water equivalent] depth of., it is the deepest laboratory in the European Union.

History

The LSM was built between 1981 and 1982 to host the "Fréjus" iron tracking calorimeter proton decay experiment. Today the site houses the Neutrino [Ettore Majorana Observatory] search for neutrinoless double beta decay, the EDELWEISS dark matter detector, and other particle detectors.