29-06-2025
Site of massive neutrino detector in Japan shown to media
Reporters have been invited to take their first look at the cavern being built to house the Hyper-Kamiokande detector for observing elementary particles, which are called neutrinos.
A large cavern for the detector at a depth of 600 meters underground in the city of Hida, Gifu Prefecture, was shown to the media on Saturday.
The cavern, with a diameter of 69 meters and height of 94 meters, is scheduled to be completed next month.
A giant water tank will then be installed. The tank's inner walls will be lined with about 20-thousand ultra-high sensitivity photosensors for observing neutrinos.
The construction of the Hyper-Kamiokande detector began in 2020, with the aim of helping to unravel the mysteries of the birth of the universe. Observations are expected to begin in three years' time.
The new detector is capable of observing about eight times more neutrinos than one of its two predecessors.
The Super-Kamiokande, along with the Kamiokande detectors, have helped Japanese researchers twice win the Nobel Prize in Physics for successful observations of neutrinos.
Kamioka Observatory at the University of Tokyo's Institute for Cosmic Ray Research has been leading the international project.
Director Shiozawa Masato said he is relieved to see the cavern will be completed soon. He said he hopes to see research outcomes that would surprise everyone, so he urges people to keep up to date on the project.
