Speaker
Description
The search for rare physical processes relies on ultra-low-background environments, making deep underground laboratories indispensable. The Bedretto tunnel, situated within the Gotthard massif in Switzerland, is a strong candidate for a future low-background facility, offering an overburden of up to 4000 meters water equivalent. The site is already home to the Bedretto Geology Laboratory run by ETH Zürich. With horizontal access and located within two hours of Zürich and Milan, it offers practical advantages for experimental operation and infrastructure development. We report on a measurement campaign in an unlined rock cavern, measuring cosmic-ray muon, neutron, and gamma fluxes, as well as radon concentration, and assessing vibrational and electromagnetic noise. We outline the planned development of the facility and the deployment of detector systems and underground instrumentation at Bedretto.