Revised LHC deal quiets congress
The roughest part of the ride may be over for U.S. physicists who want to participate in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the $5 billion accelerator planned for CERN in Geneva. They have found themselves on a political roller coaster for the past few months. This week, U.S. and European negotiators were putting the final touches on a revamped agreement that should pave the way for the United States to help pay for construction of the accelerator and its two main detectors, and guarantee U.S. scientists a role in research on the machine. The trouble began in March, when Representative Joe Barton (R-TX) declared war on a proposed $530 million U.S. contribution to the new facility, slated for completion in 2005. Barton and many other members of Congress were still smarting from what they said was a lack of European support for the canceled Superconducting Super Collider that was being built in Barton`s backyard. Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who chairs the House Science Committee, led the charge to alter a draft agreement initialed this winter by Department of Energy (DOE) and CERN officials that spelled out the details of U.S. participation. After hurried negotiations, both sides have sharpened the agreement to address the lawmakers` concerns. The new deal, says Energy Secretary Federico Pena, {open_quotes}has made that project even better.{close_quotes}
- OSTI ID:
- 530888
- Journal Information:
- Science, Vol. 276, Issue 5316; Other Information: PBD: 23 May 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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US and Europe close in on LHC deal
WE-A-16A-01: International Medical Physics Symposium: Increasing Access to Medical Physics Education/Training and Research Excellence