UKRI-2425 Custom Water Tank for Experiments at Boulby Underground Laboratory

STFC has funded a project to develop neutrino detection technologies for nuclear non-proliferation activities as part of an international programme with partners in the UK and USA. The project is funded in the UK by the Fund for International Collaboration and by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as part of the nuclear threat reduction activity led by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in the USA. A key aspect of the joint programme of work is the construction of a neutrino detection technology testbed, the BUTTON (Boulby Underground Testbed for Technologies Observing Neutrinos) experiment, at Boulby Underground Laboratory. The BUTTON testbed will be used to evaluate the performance of scintillation media such as water based liquid scintillator and liquidO and new detection technologies such as wavelength shifting plate detectors and large area picosecond photodetectors (LAPPDs). The design of the BUTTON testbed comprises a cylindrical tank that will contain 30 tonnes of liquid media, as illustrated in Figure 1. An internal support structure that will cover the inside surface area will be mounted to the base of the tank that will support up to 96 photomultiper tubes (PMTs) that will cover the surface area of the tank walls, base, and lid.