Scientists worldwide observe SNO.

• Author: Wareing, Andrew
• Position: Sudbury Reportical - Sudbury neutrino observatory

The ability to search into the darkest corners of the universe will have long-lasting economic spinoffs for Sudbury.

The recent announcement of Sudbury Neutrino Observatory's (SNO) $38.9-million expansion to add scientific capability to the current neutrino observatory will mean more than extra dollars going into the community, says David Sinclair, director of SNOLAB and a professor of physics at Carlton University. The Canadian Foundation for Innovation is funding the expansion.

"Essentially, all of the (expansion) money will be spent in Northern Ontario," says Sinclair. "It will be work to build a new facility, including building new infrastructure, its excavation and work underground."

The architectural contract has been awarded to a Sudbury firm, and the engineering work to another Sudbury firm.

He estimates that about $3 million to $4 million per year has been spent in Sudbury as a result of the SNO attracting researchers from around the world into the community. They paid for food and hotel accommodations and made use of the local amenities.

Sinclair estimates, with the construction of the new SNOLAB, that amount could double. Planned is an approximately 32,000-square-foot building on the site of the current above-ground SNO facilities, which will house new laboratories, meeting spaces, office, and everything needed to support the underground laboratory.

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There will also be new detectors built in the SNO for other experiments.

"To my mind, the benefits go beyond the dollars that are spent. It's what someone referred to as the halo effect," says Sinclair. "When you get every television and newspaper in the world carrying news about scientific breakthroughs made in Sudbury, then you can work out what kind of advertising dollars Sudbury and the Canadian government would have to spend to get that kind of coverage.

"There are intangible benefits," says Sinclair. "People are thinking of Sudbury along with high-tech science. I...