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CERN’s ProtoDUNE has entered a pivotal stage: the filling of one of its two particle detectors with liquid argon. The liquid argon will provide a clean environment for precise measurements in neutrino interactions and allow scientists to detect and study neutrino interactions.

As excavation of the underground facilities for DUNE nears completion, crews are now working on laying concrete floors and spraying shotcrete on the walls of the caverns. The next priority is to prepare the south cavern for cryostat erection by installing sprinklers, fire alarms, an elevator, and overhead cranes

Rigging crews at SURF are performing a series of tests using a large wooden model L-beam built to the same scale as one of the huge steel components that arrived in South Dakota in January after being shipped from Spain. The tests are being done in anticipation of lowering the real thing down the shaft to the underground 4850 level.

Fermilab looking for Lead area and southwest SD people who would like to join the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment team. There are a series of hiring events planned to meet with those interested in being part of DUNE including the Lead Employment Expo, which will be held at the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor’s Center on April 16.

Physicists from Syracuse University are part of the more than 1,400 scientists that make up the DUNE collaboration. The Syracuse team were involved in the development and testing of the first detector’s components, helping finalize the design and testing plans of the anode plane assemblies. The team also researched and developed light sensors for the first detector’s module and investigated how adding small amounts of the element xenon could improve their performance.

Business Insider reports on the recent completion of cavern excavation in South Dakota and what comes next as engineers and scientists prepare for the next phases of DUNE.

Physicists from the University of Texas at Arlington will build portions of the first two far detectors to be installed at the South Dakota site fro DUNE. Having been part of the collaboration since its earliest stages, UTA physicists also assisted in the construction of prototype detectors at CERN.

The Indian Department of Atomic Energy is helping set up the new Proton Improvement Plan II project at Fermilab. India has reached a crucial milestone and is moving from the research and development phase to the construction phase. The transition strengthens the scientific partnership between India and U.S.

KOTA-TV of Rapid City, South Dakota speaks with Fermilab’s Mike Gemelli and Steve Brice on the completion of the cavern excavation and the outfitting work ahead to prepare the DUNE detectors for installation.

The first components for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment have arrived in Lead, SD. Starting this spring the LBNF/DUNE project team and officials at the Sanford Underground Research Facility will begin tests to ensure cryostats for the experiment can be safely lowered down the Ross Shaft.