Nuclear advisory board recommends building collider
The Nuclear Science Advisory Committee has recommended that the U.S. Department of Energy build an electron ion collider — a research tool of massive scale that could pave the way to new discoveries in physics.
The project could bring a $1 billion construction project to Hampton Roads.
The committee’s recommendation — announced Thursday in Washington as part of its long-range plan for nuclear science research in the U.S. — was considered a critical step toward the federal government making a final decision to build and finance the cutting-edge research facility.
Jefferson Laboratory in Newport News, home to the Energy Department’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, is one of two sites under consideration for the projected collider; the other is Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, N.Y.
Officials said it could be a year or two before a decision to build is made, and two to three years before a site is chosen for the project.
Both labs are preparing applications for the project, which could begin construction as early as 2020 and be completed toward the end of the following decade.
The timetables are long but barely a blip given the cosmic scope of the work — unlocking the secrets of the smallest particles of matter that form the foundation of the universe.
The collider under consideration would smash electrons into heavy ions or protons at nearly the speed of light. Scientists would study the resulting collisions to learn more about the force that binds all visible matter.
“There are fundamental issues associated with the substructure of atomic nuclei that can only be addressed by such a new facility,” said physicist Bob McKeown, the deputy director of science for Jefferson Lab.
“The fundamental theory of the structure of atomic nuclei, the glue that holds quarks together at higher energies ... is still very mysterious.”
McKeown said that landing the collider project would position Jefferson Lab as the premier facility for this type of nuclear physics and secure its long-term future as a research facility for many decades.
“We need to work hard to be prepared to try to bring this facility to our site,” he said.
Federal and state officials have stepped behind the effort to win the collider project, saying it would create about 4,900 jobs over a decade and add $708 million to Virginia’s economy.
“Our sole competition for the ion collider project is the state of New York — and we simply cannot allow those New Yorkers to come down here to Virginia and take our collider project,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe said in January as he pushed for several million dollars in state funding to help compete for the project.
Now that the project has been recommended, officials said they would seek an additional $2.4 million during the next two years to further their pursuit of the project.
“During my visit to Jefferson Lab in April, I saw how this high-level theoretical research not only improves general scientific understanding but lays the groundwork for practical applications like the MRI or microwave that profoundly affect our everyday lives,” said U.S. Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, D-Va.
“Jefferson Lab is an economic boon to Hampton Roads and a source of prestige for Virginia, and I stand with the governor and others to do whatever we can to bring the electron ion collider here.”
