Noem Urges Administration to Prioritize Sanford Lab Research
WASHINGTON D.C. – In a letter to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan, and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren, Rep. Noem urged the administration to prioritize the Department of Energy’s Long Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) – a research project planned at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, along with other facilities across the country.
“The neutrino research to be conducted in South Dakota could lead to faster global communications, better nuclear weapons detection technologies, and a new understanding of how the world around us works,” said Noem. “To accomplish any of this, however, the administration must see the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility experiment as imperative to our national interests and make the research a priority, as they have done in the past. This is the future of scientific research.”
The Long Baseline Neutrino Facility experiment focuses on the study of neutrinos – one of the least understood particles in the universe. It seeks to uncover their structure and behavior in the hopes of developing new technological advances as well as educating and training students. To study the properties of neutrinos, the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois would produce an intense beam of neutrinos, which would travel 800 miles across the United States to the deep underground lab at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota.
Earlier this year, the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) outlined the 10-year strategic plan for high-energy physics experiments in the U.S. The report specifically recommends research into dark matter and neutrinos, both fields of study the Sanford Lab is recognized for.
The Sanford Underground Research Facility employs 125 individuals full-time at its facility in Lead.
To read a copy of the letter, please click here.
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Good on our Congresswoman for doing this. Thank you, Ms. Noem.
It is good, but isn’t it a bit of asking for the picking of winners and losers? I thought that was always a bad thing.
MJL, sorry, I don’t understand your question. Who are the “losers” if this research gets funded? The other physics experiments? Or some other totally different effort? Can you clarify?
mjl obviously gets the ‘stretch of the month’ award. a shame, i thought one of my trump posts won that.