THE NEUTRINO MEDITERRANEAN OBSERVATORY (NEMO) PROJECT.

Since 1998 the NEMO Collaboration started a long term activity dedicated to improve deep-seatechnologies and to characterize an optimal site for the installation of a km3 neutrino Telescopein the Mediterranean sea. More than 25 sea campaigns were performed to deploy and recoverinstrumented lines of multi-functional detectors, dedicated to survey the environmental character-istics and water optical properties at different sites. A site close to Capo Passero, 80 km from thesouthern coast of Sicily, Italy, at 3500 m below the Sea levelshows excellent peculiarity to host akm3underwater detector. A complete feasibility study, which considered all the detector criticalcomponents and the deployment procedures, has been carriedout demonstrating that technologi-cal solutions exist for the realization of an underwater km3detector. In parallel, an intense R&Dactivity finalized at the development of new solutions for the sensors and the DAQ electronics isin progress. The realization of a technological demonstrator of the apparatus (the NEMO Phase 1project) near the Catania harbour, at a depth of 2000 m, is scheduled in 2006. The realization ofa second demonstrator (a full tower with 16 storeys, 64 optical modules) at the Capo Passero siteis foreseen for 2007.