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Spanning the border between Geneva and France, and running deep below the Rhone and Arve valleys and Lake Geneva, the next-generation accelerator will be three times larger than the current Large Hadron Collider, at 100 km in circumference. After a feasibility study for the Future Circular Collider (FCC) was launched in 2020, the project is now aiming to be readied for 2040. But first, member states will have to greenlight the project by 2025. The biggest challenge Cern faces at this stage is the environment.
Why it's sensitive. Cern has already charted a possible path for the particle collider tunnel, But the test will be to achieve certain scientific targets while avoiding geological constraints and having the least possible environmental impact. Its member states, as well as local authorities, will have to be swayed.
Among the arguments the organisation is presenting are that heat released by FCC magnets may be used to heat entire neighbourhoods, and the dug-up earth could be redeployed locally.
Read the full story on Geneva Solutions (EN)
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