The world’s largest grain accelerator project is worth about US $ 17 billion, causing much controversy about the cost, scale and environmental impact.
The tunnel of the future circular accelerator (FCC) and the current grain accelerator (LHC) in Geneva. Image: AFP
The European nuclear research organization (CERN) said on March 31, a detailed analysis pointed out, there was no technical obstacle to the manufacture of a huge future circular accelerator (FCC). This $ 17 billion project is controversial, although Malika Medahihahi, Deputy Director of Cern’s accelerator and technology, emphasized the benefits such as research on medical photography and cancer treatment.
After analyzing about 100 different scenarios, CERN published the results of the study that lasted for many years for their priority options: a circle tunnel nearly 91 km long between the French – Switzerland border. With an average depth of 200 m, this tunnel will contain a granular accelerator that is three times longer than the current large granular accelerator (LHC) of CERN, currently holding the title of the largest grain accelerator in the world.
LHC – Located in a 27 km long round tunnel at a depth of about 100 m underground – used to prove the existence of Higgs Boson beads. Also known as “Lord’s seeds”, this Nobel Prize is discovered to expand human knowledge about how the particles receive mass. LHC plans to complete the mission by 2041, so CERN has analyzed options so that scientists can continue research.
The FCC project is essential for helping Europe maintain a global leading position in the field of basic physics, according to Cerna Fabiola Gianotti. She warned that “there is a real competition” from China, confirming the FCC project “is on the right track” and calls for countries to liberate the necessary funding for the project to progress.
“In order to make a great progress in understanding the origin of the universe and the role of Boson Higgs, the global science community needs a powerful and potential machine like FCC,” Catherine Biscarat, a L2IT laboratory at the University of Toulouse, said.
However, not everyone is excited about this scale project. The member states of Cern – 23 European and Israeli – need to decide whether to release the necessary funding by 2028. Germany, the country’s biggest contribution to CERN, last year expressed concern about the huge amount of the project.
Some local people oppose FCC because of the impact that the project can cause to their lives and livelihoods. The project also receives mixed opinions in the scientific world. “Financial, ecological and operating costs are extremely large. It is better to sponsor smaller scientific projects,” said Physician Olivier Cepas from the Grenoble University of Grenoble.
FCC project engineer, Jean-Paul Burnet, confirmed that FCC has been improved to reduce environmental impact, such as reducing the number of wells and surface locations. But environmental organizations in the area have not yet been convincing. In a report, the Noe21 organization evaluated FCC as “excessive”, criticizing the consumption of huge amounts of electricity as well as climate, cost and scale of the project.