Neutrinoless double-beta (0 gamma beta beta) decay is a hypothesized lepton-number-violating process that offers the only known means of asserting the possible Majorana nature of neutrino mass. The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is an upcoming experiment designed to search for 0 gamma beta beta decay of Te-130 using an array of 988 TeO2 crystal bolometers operated at 10 mK. The detector will contain 206 kg of Te-130 and have an average energy resolution of 5 keV; the projected 0 gamma beta beta decay half-life sensitivity after five years of livetime is 1.6 x 10 2(6) y at 1 sigma (9.5 x 10(25) y at the 90% confidence level), which corresponds to an upper limit on the effective Majorana mass in the range 40-100 meV (50-130 meV). In this paper, we review the experimental techniques used in CUORE as well as its current status and anticipated physics reach.
