Modane Underground Laboratory

{{Short description|Particle physics laboratory in France}}

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The Modane Underground Laboratory (LSM) ({{langx|fr|Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane}}; also known as the Fréjus Underground Laboratory) is a subterranean particle physics laboratory located within the Fréjus Road Tunnel near Modane, France. It is jointly operated by the French National Center for Scientific Research and the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission in partnership with the University of Savoie.

The laboratory sits almost exactly in the middle of the {{convert|12.6|km|adj=on|sp=us}} road tunnel, which links Modane to Bardonecchia, Italy, {{convert|1700|m|sp=us}} below Fréjus Peak. This depth translates to a meter water equivalent depth of {{convert|4800|m|sp=us}}.{{cite journal |last=Piquemal |first=Fabrice |title=Modane underground laboratory: Status and project |journal=The European Physical Journal Plus |volume=127 |issue=9 |date=September 2012 |doi=10.1140/epjp/i2012-12110-3 |page=110|bibcode = 2012EPJP..127..110P }}{{cite web |last=Piquemal |first=Fabrice |title=Modane Underground Laboratory |date=December 19, 2012 |location=Durham, England |url=https://indico.cern.ch/event/199223/contribution/23/material/slides/0.pdf}} {{As of|2012}}, it is the deepest laboratory in the European Union.{{cite conference |last=Smith |first=Nigel J. |title=The Current Status and Planned Developments for Deep Underground Astro-particle Physics Science Facilities |book-title=Journal of Physics: Conference Series |volume=375 |year=2012 |doi=10.1088/1742-6596/375/1/042059|doi-access=free }}

The LSM was built between 1981 and 1982 to host the "Fréjus" iron tracking calorimeter proton decay experiment. Today the site houses the Neutrino Ettore Majorana Observatory (NEMO) search for neutrinoless double beta decay, the EDELWEISS dark matter detector, and other particle detectors.{{cite web |title=Expériences de physique fondamentale |url=http://www-lsm.in2p3.fr/activites/phys_fondam/phys_fondam.htm |publisher=Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane |access-date=19 April 2015}}