MINOS Detector Decommissioning

The MINOS decommissioning was a unique project in that it occurred at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park in Soudan, Minnesota.  It involved cutting up 6000 tons of plate steel a half mile underground! The real challenge was to cut each piece small enough to fit into the cage elevator where the material was brought to the surface for disposal as scrap. MINOS, which stands for the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search, searched for changes or oscillations in neutrinos shot in a beam underground to the Soudan Mine originating in Chicago.