Background measurements in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory

Abstract

The gamma background flux below 3000 keV in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy, has been measured using a 3 in. diameter NaI(Tl) detector at different underground positions: in hall A, hall B, the interferometer tunnel, and inside the Large Volume Detector (LVD). The integrated flux is 0.3–0.4 s−1 cm−2 at the first three locations, and is lower by two orders of magnitude inside LVD. With the help of Monte Carlo simulations for every location, the contribution of the individual primordial isotopes to the background has been determined. Using an 11 in. diameter NaI(Tl) detector, the background neutron flux in the LNGS interferometer tunnel has been estimated. Within the uncertainties, the result agrees with those from other neutron measurements in the main halls.