Info on SuperK accident given below.
<p>1. Message from Bill Kropp, SuperK Collaborator
<p>2. NYTimes.com article
<p>3. Statement from Kamoikanda Director, which includes the
   following quotation: "We will rebuild the detector. 
   There is no question."

<p><a href=http://www-sk.icrr.u-tokyo.ac.jp/doc/sk/index.html>SuperK website</a>

<p>Message from UC Irvine Physicist and SuperKamiokande Collaboration Member
<hr>
<pre>
Bill Kropp <wkropp@uci.edu> wrote:
Subject: SK Update
Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 14:38:40 -0800

Hi,

Many have heard by now of the SK disaster. Here is what I have
learned: Apparently an ID tube, most likely on the bottom of the
detector, imploded and set off a chain reaction destroying much of the
detector to about a depth of 2 meters or so below the current water
level. Apparently the top 7 supermodules and the top are intact.

The destruction is reported to be extensive with about 7000 ID and
1000 OD tubes destroyed. The various layers between the ID and OD are
shredded.  There appears to be huge piles of glass and other debris on
the tank bottom.  Waveshifter plates are shattered, cables perhaps
shredded, etc. The water is full of antimony and other hazardous
chemicals.

Bill Kropp
</pre>

<Br>NYTimes.com article:November 13, 2001
<hr>
<br>Accident Curbs Japan Research Into Cosmos's Ghostly Particles

By HOWARD W. FRENCH with DENNIS OVERBYE


<p>TOKYO, Nov. 12 - A huge underground chamber that made
historic observations of ghostly particles called neutrinos
that stream through the cosmos was crippled over the
weekend when thousands of light detectors imploded in a
chain reaction.

<p>The accident at Kamioka Neutrino Observatory, a large
particle physics laboratory outside of Tokyo, is a major
setback to research on the neutrino, one of nature's most
elusive components. It brought to a halt an experiment that
has been considered a candidate for a Nobel Prize.

<p>"People at the site heard a sound," said Hirotaka Sugawara,
director of KEK accelerator laboratory. "it happened inside
the water and surely must have had something to do with the
pressure, but I will not comment further."

<p>He said the accident happened as the water tanks were being
refilled after having been drained for maintenance. He
called the accident "a huge tragedy" and said it would take
at least a year to repair the damage.

<p>In confirming the accident, officials at Tokyo University
gave few clues as to its origin, saying only that thousands
of light detectors had been destroyed in the water-filled
chamber, known as Super-Kamiokande. The neutrino detection
apparatus relied upon roughly 20-inch tubes called
photomultipliers that lined a tank filled with very pure
water, over 1,000 yards underground, to gather evidence of
the particles, which have no charge and are so light that
physicists thought for decades that they had no mass at
all.

<p>But in 1998, experiments at Super- K established that at
least one of the three types, or "flavors," in which
neutrinos come must have at least some mass. This was big
news for the universe because according to the standard
calculations that describe the big bang that started the
universe, neutrinos are the most populous elementary
particles in the universe and their cumulative mass could
have an effect on cosmic geography and the formation of
galaxies.

<p>The Super-Kamiokande detector consists of 12.5 million
gallons of water in a tank about the size of a cathedral a
mile underground in the Kamioka zinc mine 180 miles
northwest of Tokyo. It was completed in 1996 at a cost of
$100 million by a consortium of American and Japanese
researchers.

<p>The tank is lined with 11,242 photomultiplier tubes spaced
about a yard apart, which detect a bluish streak of light
left in the water when a high- speed particle passes
through. A researcher familiar with the experiment said
compared the accident to corn popping or a string of
firecrackers going off. About 7,000 of the detector's
11,000 tubes imploded, he said, each of which costs about
$3,000. He estimated the total loss at $20 to $30 million.
"Thank goodness we got our Nobel already cooking," he said.


Appeal from the Director of the Kamioka Observatory
<hr>
<pre>
Dear colleague,

As a director of the Kamioka Observatory, which owns and is
responsible to operate and maintain the Super-Kamiokande detector, it
is really sad that I have to announce the severe accident that
occurred on November 12 and damaged the significant part of the
detector. We would like to express our deep regret to Japanese, US and
Korean people who have generously supported the Super-Kamiokande
experiment. The cause and how to deal with the loss in future will be
discussed by newly found committees. However, even before discussing
with my colleagues of the Super-K and K2K collaborations, I have
decided to express my intension on behalf of the staff of the Kamioka
Observatory.

We will rebuild the detector. There is no question. The strategy may
be the following two steps, which will be proposed and discussed among
my colleagues.

1. Quick restart of the K2K experiment.  (1) We will clear the safety
measures which may be suggested by the committees, (2) reduce the
number density of the photomultiplier tubes by about a half, (3) use
the existing resources, (4) resume the K2K experiment as soon as
possible; the goal may be within one year.

2. Preparation for the JHF-Kamioka experiment.  (1) Restore the full
Super-Kamiokande detector armed with the state-of-the-art
techniques. (2) The detector will be ready by the time of the
commissioning of the JHF machine.

To achieve our objective is formidable but we are determined to do
so. We certainly need your encouragement, advice and help. I should
appreciate it very much if you could support our effort as you have
kindly done so before.

Best regards,
Yoji Totsuka
director, Kamioka Observatory
On behalf of the Kamioka Observatory staff
Nov 14, 2001
</pre>