While the FCC’s scientific potential is indisputable, its hefty price tag of 17 billion euros has sparked debate. Critics argue for cheaper alternatives—like a linear collider—or suggest that these funds could be better allocated to tackling pressing global issues such as climate change. The onus now rests on CERN’s member nations to weigh the economic implications against the potential scientific breakthroughs as they mull over financing the project.

In the 1990s, the Tera Electron Volt Energy Superconducting Linear Accelerator (TESLA) project at DESY in Germany led the drive to develop SRFs for an International Linear Collider (ILC), which could be a successor to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

Building better positron sources is a goal of physicists and engineers working on designs for future lepton colliders. These include the International Linear Collider and a version of the FCC called FCC-ee, which would collide positrons with electrons. The PSI Positron Production, or P-cubed experiment is one such design effort.

ILC=国際リニアコライダーの誘致を目指す岩手、宮城両県議会の議員連盟は、8日専門家を招いた講演会を盛岡市で開き、誘致実現の課題を探りました。(The Federation of Diet Members of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectural Assemblies, which aims to invite the International Linear Collider (ILC), held a lecture meeting in Morioka City on August 8, inviting experts to explore the challenges of attracting the ILC to Iwate and Miyagi.
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ＩＬＣ・国際リニアコライダーの建設実現を目指し、２月８日に岩手県盛岡市で県立大の鈴木厚人学長による講演会が開かれました。(A lecture by Atsuto Suzuki, President of Iwate Prefectural University, was held on February 8 in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, with the aim of realizing the construction of an ILC/International Linear Collider.)

Meanwhile, other ‘Higgs factory’ designs are in the works around the world. The Japanese government has shown interest in hosting the long-planned International Linear Collider, while China is designing a ring-shaped machine called the Circular Electron Positron Collider. Gianotti said that the European Strategy for Particle Physics had found that the FCC had greater physics potential than a linear collider, because it could produce Higgs bosons at a higher rate and because the same tunnels could later be used for a much higher-energy machine that collides protons.

岩手、宮城両県議会の国際リニアコライダー（ＩＬＣ）建設実現議連は２３日、政府などに対して誘致実現や取り組みの加速を要望した。(On January 23, the ILC Construction Realization Council of the Iwate and Miyagi Prefectural Assemblies requested the government and other parties to realize and accelerate efforts to attract the ILC to Iwate and Miyagi.)

2014年以来となる報告書をまとめる際、現在の予算では米国内にヒッグスファクトリーを整備できないと判断したが、素粒子物理学の研究は国際的なパートナーと一緒に実現することにした。欧州のFCC（次世代型大型円形加速器）とILC（国際リニアコライダー）の計画は、われわれが考えている素粒子物理学の目標を達成できるので、ぜひ参加するべきだ。(When we compiled our first report since 2014, we determined that our current budget would not allow us to develop a Higgs Factory in the United States, but we have decided to work with international partners to make particle physics research a reality. The European FCC and ILC projects can achieve the particle physics goals we have in mind and should be included.)

ILCの誘致を目指す建設地域期成同盟会は６日、一関市内のホテルで、初の講演会を開いた。笹川平和財団（東京）の角南篤理事長は「科学技術外交や経済安全保障の観点から日本にとって重要だ」と強調。岩手、宮城両県から集った約１７０人は実現に向け、結束を図った(The Alliance for the Construction of the ILC held its first lecture at a hotel in Ichinoseki City on June 6. Atsushi Kakunan, president of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo, stressed that the ILC is important for Japan from the viewpoints of science and technology diplomacy and economic security. About 170 people from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures gathered to unite for the realization of the alliance.)

巨大加速器「国際リニアコライダー」（ILC）の誘致を目指す東北ILC推進協議会は1日、増子次郎共同代表（東北経済連合会会長）による講演会を仙台市で開いた。増子代表は9月にスイス・ジュネーブ郊外にある欧州合同原子核研究機関（CERN）などを視察した内容を報告。「ILC誘致を契機に、欧米などの優秀な人材とのネットワークを強化することが不可欠だ」と強調した。(The Tohoku ILC Promotion Council, which aims to attract the ILC, a giant accelerator, held a lecture by Jiro Masuko, co-chairman of the Tohoku Economic Federation, in Sendai City on September 1. Mr. Masuko reported on his visit to CERN in September. He stressed that it is essential to take advantage of the ILC’s attraction to strengthen the network with excellent human resources in Europe, the U.S., and other countries.)

The idea of the ILC was proposed over 20 years ago by the international high energy physics community: it is a large-scale project, and it is very expensive. Such a big project can be developed only as a global project, not only by KEK or by the Japanese government. So, we must collaborate with as many governments and institutions as possible, and we are now proposing people to get together to discuss how we can do this.