Session K20 - Poster Session.
POSTER session, Sunday afternoon, April 29
Congressional C, Renaissance Hotel
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory will measure the flux and energy spectrum of electron neutrinos and, independently, the combined flux of all active flavors of neutrinos. Radioactive contaminants are a potential source of background to the observation of these neutrinos. For example, \gamma-rays with an energy greater than about 2.2 MeV can photodissociate the deuteron. This is indistinguishable from the neutral current dissociation of the deuteron-the main signal to measure the total flux of active neutrinos from the sun. In addition, electrons and photons greater than a few MeV will be backgrounds to the measurement of the charged current reaction-the main signal to determine the flux of electron neutrinos from the sun. Thus, low energy radioactive contaminants in the detector must be controlled to be low and their levels must be well understood. The SNO water purification and assay systems have been designed to reduce and assess radioactive backgrounds. An overview of the water purification systems will be discussed.