Paving the way for the Paarl-Africa Underground Laboratory

Abstract

The Southern hemisphere offers a wonderful opportunity for scientists to explore unique initiatives offered by a low level radiation facility. Establishing a deep underground physics laboratory to study, amongst others, double beta decay, geo-neutrinos, reactor neutrinos and dark matter has been discussed for more than a decade within the austral African physicists’ community. The Paarl-African Underground Laboratory (PAUL) is foreseen as an open international laboratory, a unique opportunity for Africa, devoted to the development of competitive science in the region. It has the advantage that the location, the Huguenot tunnel, exists already and the geology and the environment of the site is appropriate for an experimental facility. A report of the most recent developments in the modelling of muon flux and muon measurements which are required for the establishment of the PAUL and the envisaged research programs is presented.