Progetto Aria, new program agreement approved. President Solinas: “Great opportunity for the island, Sardinia increasingly at the center of important scientific initiatives”

Cagliari, 7 April 2023 – “Aria is a very high-profile project, particularly important for the Sulcis Iglesiente area and for all of Sardinia, as well as for its contribution to scientific development at national and international level. The support of the Region for the completion of what is necessary for the start of the operational phase is therefore strategic from the point of view of an Island that wants to be a protagonist in the field of research”. This was stated by the President, Christian Solinas following the approval by the Council of the program agreement between the Sardinia Region and the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), an agreement aimed at completing the infrastructure built at the mining site of Seruci (in Gonnesa) and dedicated to the production of stable isotopes of Argon through cryogenic distillation. Chemical element, Argon in its purest form, indispensable for studies on dark matter.

“The agreement represents an important step forward in the conversion of the Seruci mine, an ideal site for carrying out the project, and the completion of the works necessary for the production of isotopes intended for research. We are talking about a unique infrastructure of its kind and a project that has also attracted great interest in the United States. Furthermore, the construction of a second column, already planned, for the distillation of other isotopes, in addition to Argon, will be able to guarantee a greater volume of activity and further application fields in the scientific field”, concludes President Solinas.