The new underground facility in Korea, Yemilab

Abstract

Abstract A new underground facility called Yemilab with a depth of 1,000 m will be constructed for studies on neutrinos and dark matter search. The new underground facility is located within the site of an iron mine in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea. Since the mine has a vertical shaft with a diameter of 6 m and a length of 600 m, the facility uses this shaft. The construction of the new underground facility consists of a cage for passengers (man-cage) to enter the underground, excavation of tunnels with a total area of 10,000 m2 including a dedicated area of 2,600 m2 for experiments, and construction of electrical and mechanical facilities for operation. The construction is carried out in two phases. In the first phase, man-cage manufacturing/installation and most of the tunnel excavation were carried out. In the second stage, excavation of a large cylindrical pit with dimensions of 20 m (D) × 20 m (H) is being carried out together with the installation of a 2 MW power supply and construction of facilities for ventilation, drainage, and fire prevention. The first phase construction started in 2018 and was completed in August 2020. The second phase construction started in May 2021 and is going to be completed in May 2022.