The Italians have finally achieved the closure of the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso

The Large Hadron Collider is by no means the only facility built by physicists underground and causing a storm of protests among the population and the concerned public. In the Italian mountains in the north of the country there is a physical laboratory that has been operating for more than a decade. And all these years, the experimental site provokes the discontent of the population, environmentalists and even the leadership of the region.

The Gran Sasso National Laboratory is located in the mountains of the same name in the central part of the Apennine Peninsula. As far back as the 80s of the 20th century, a car tunnel was built in this region. It was then that the idea was born to place an experimental center under Mount Monte Aquila. In order to simplify access to the underground laboratory, and at the same time save time and money spent on its construction, it was decided to connect the premises for the new center with the existing tunnel. A lateral branch was laid from him, where the laboratory was located for the study of elementary particles, as well as various processes in the field of nuclear physics. The Gran Sasso Laboratory in the Italian mountains has existed since 1989.

All this time, experiments with neutrino particles, studies of the processes of radioactive decays, and a number of other experiments were carried out here. Of course, all projects are international in nature and are not exclusively an Italian research initiative. Hundreds of scientists from various countries of the world are connected with the laboratory, including from Russia.

But, as is often the case with similar physical laboratories, its appearance caused a particularly negative reaction among local residents, as well as environmental activists. In nearby towns, protests were regularly held, in which people spoke out against the functioning of the laboratory. Despite all the assurances of physicists that the laboratory, located at a depth of more than 1 kilometer, does not adversely affect the environment and public health, protests continued. After several years of confrontation, local authorities also sided with the protesters and began to demand the closure of the laboratory.

Not so long ago, it was nevertheless decided to close it. At the end of 2018, a contract was signed with one of the construction companies for the dismantling of the main part of the Gran Sasso equipment. Of course, the scientific community met this news with incredible regret, because the complex is equipped with everything necessary for complex experiments, and several projects can be conducted in the laboratory at once.