Proposal submitted to DOE December 3, 2007.
DUSEL could be the location of a large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detector, but only if outstanding questions related to such a detector can be resolved. A crucial design feature of massive (multi-kiloton) liquid argon detectors for neutrino experiments (and other physics such as proton decay) is that the main cryogenic vessel is not evacuable. The cost of making a multi-kiloton capacity tank strong enough to sustain a vacuum is prohibitive. Achieving adequate argon purity in a large tank without evacuation has never been demonstrated and one cannot sensibly imagine investing in a multi-kiloton liquid argon detector without a demonstration that adequate purity can be obtained.
