LUX occupies the previous location of Ray Davis? solar neutrino detection experiment, initiated in 1965, which earned him a Nobel Prize in 2002. The Davis laboratory is one of the deepest science facilities of its size, providing 7 orders of magnitude reduction in the cosmic muon ux. The environment of the new Davis laboratory is separated from the Yates drift by airlocks, and is maintained at better than class 100,000. Localized clean rooms will be supported, providing clean levels better than class 1,000.
The 300 ton water shield in Davis provides a world-leading facility for ultra-low background experiments. The 8 meter diameter tank accommodates the LUX detector, suppressing gamma and low energy (<10 MeV) neutron ux by 10 and 3 orders of magnitude, respectively. The water is maintained with a purity better than ppt levels of Uranium and Thorium. Residual cosmic muon events are vetoed via Cerenkov light. The thick water shield also significantly moderates high-energy neutrons (10 MeV to 1 GeV) coming from cosmic ray events in the rock. The water tank can also readily accommodate a future generation of low background experiments.