Lok Sabha Question No. 624 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Indian Participation in Global Particle Physics Experiments
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: Sanjay Jaiswal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.624 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019

## INDIAN PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL PARTICLE PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS

## 624. DR. SANJAY JAISWAL:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) The extent of  Indian  participation  in  global  particle  physics  experiments  like Belle 2 of Japan and the intended benefits of such projects;
- (b) whether India plans to have its own project on the lines of particle accelerator of CERN;
- (c) If so, the details thereof;
- (d) the project implementation status of the neutrino observatory being established in Tamil Nadu; and
- (e) The  steps  taken  to  ensure  that  the  project  is  environmentally  safe  and  the expected benefits of the project?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  PERSONNEL,  PUBLIC  GRIEVANCES  & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH):

- (a) The  following are the Global Particle Physics Experiments  in which Department  of  Atomic  Energy  (DAE)  in  partnership  with  Department  of Science and Technology participate :
- i. Particle  Physics  Experiments  at  the  Large  Hadron  Collider  (LHC) accelerator at CERN. The extent of participation covers developing of hardware and software for the ATLAS and CMS detectors at the LHC,  and  in  theoretical  analysis  of  the  results.  Benefits  include: development of detector technology; Indian authorship in publication of results emanating from the LHC; training of students in detectors and analysis.
- ii. Proton  Improvement  Plan-II  (PIP-II)  accelerator  at  Fermilab,  USA. India,  along  with  other  international  partners, is  involved in  design and development of various sub-systems of the PIP-II Accelerator. Benefits that will accrue from this collaboration include: transfer of High Intensity Superconducting Proton Accelerator (HISPA) technology  know-how  to  India;  setting  up  of  infrastructure  and facilities for developing HISPA components; development of expertise in HISPA design and technology; training of our scientists and  engineers  in  HISPA  technology;  development  of  capability  in Indian industry in this high technology area.

- iii. Belle  and  Belle  II  experiments  of  Japan  to  unravel  mysteries  of nature by colliding electrons with positrons at the highest possible luminosity.  The  main  goal  of  the  Belle  II  phase  is  to  exploit  the billions of beauty hadrons (sub-atomic particles containing a beauty quark)  produced  in  electron-positron  collisions  in  order  to  make precise  measurements  and  search  for  super-rare  decays  towards probing the next fundamental layer of physics. We have succeeded in training a large pool of next-generation scientists.
- iv. Facility  for  Antiproton  and  Ion  Research  (FAIR)  accelerator  is coming up at Darmstadt, Germany. 43 Indian Groups (11 from DAE labs) are participating in this project. It has High Intensity beam(1000x) and Primary High Intensity beam  (10000x) for radiation ion beams and 100x for antiproton beams. The project is under  construction,  wherein  eight  countries  are  participating  while three countries have shown interest to join. Indian interests are in :-
1. Nuclear Structure Astrophysics and Reactions( NUSTAR) Nuclear Physics Research
2. Quantum Chromo-dynamics (QCD)-  Community active in high energy nuclear physics.
3. Atomic Plasma Physics and Applications(APPA) - Atomic, plasma and laser community interest.

India is supplying few of the important components for this project. Power convertor(ultra stable power connecters) are being manufactured at ECIL. Some of them have already been dispatched.

(b)&(c)  No, Sir.

- (d)&(e) The INO project is in the process of getting the Wildlife Clearance(WLC) from the  National  Board  of Wildlife,  MoEF&CC.  Based on recommendations  by the  Tamil  Nadu  Wildlife  Authority,  INO  Project  Director  has  applied  for Building  Clearance  (BC)  at  the  Bodi  West  Hills  site  of  the  underground laboratory. The Environmental Clearance has already been obtained. WLC and BC clearance from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is sought.

The INO project does not disturb the ecosystem around the site and does not  release  any  radiation,  as  it  does  not  have  any  radioactive  substance. INO  project  is  an  ambitious  basic  sciences  research  project  aimed  at studying the properties and interactions of the elusive elementary particles called neutrinos. Neutrinos are naturally occurring particles and at any given moment huge quantity of neutrinos pass through earth including our body. As neutrinos do not interact with our body, it causes no radiation damage. This project is aimed to study scientifically the behaviour of neutrinos and is considered internationally one of the most important studies in this field.

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