Plans for the New Lab

We are very excited to have moved into a new, purpose-built facility that will replicate all the functions of the previous lab. The rebuilt lab has a total of 5 laminar flow, fully exhausting fume hoods. The lab redesign focussed on both safety and efficiency with the goal of providing a facility that could run 24/7. All boron-bearing materials were avoided during reconstruction.The lab redesign was done by IDC and the construction management by ReArch of South Burlington, VT.

There is a production lab that includes hoods dedicated to acid digestion, washing of lab ware, and column chemistry for mid- to high-level samples, which are the bulk of our sample load. There is a hood dedicated to all phases of low-level sample preparation. There is an adjacent room dedicated to meteoric 10-Be extraction as well as the testing of quartz for purity. This lab can be reconfigured for cosmogenic Cl extractions when needed. A vestibule connects the spaces and there is a write up area for data analysis. For safety and so that visitors can see lab activities without entering the clean lab, the write up area is walled by windows. Pressures cascade from the labs to the vestibule which is negative to the hallway so that any fumes released in the labs are contained and so that the labs stay clean.

Across the hall is a dedicated mineral separation lab where we extract pure quartz. Downstairs is a rock preparation facility.

Here, you can download a PDF of the as-built lab drawings.