LDP Eager to Attract Particle Accelerator Project to Japan

August 16, 2018

Tokyo- The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is eager to attract a project to build the International Linear Collider, a next-generation particle accelerator, to Japan.

The party plans to launch a task force that will bring together five LDP divisions as early as this month and urge the government to make efforts to win the project.

The ILC project has been proposed by international researcher groups. Japanese scientists in favor of the construction call on the government to host the particle accelerator.

Researchers in the United States and Europe hope Japan will play a leading role.

The five LDP divisions are the Headquarters for Overcoming Population Decline and Regional Revitalization, the Headquarters for Promoting the Establishment of a Disaster Resilient Japan, the Research Commission on Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy, the Headquarters for Accelerating Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the Research Commission on Intellectual Property Strategy.

The LDP hopes the launch of the task force will help build momentum to attract the project to Japan. The team will also have experts from outside the party as members.

The Kitakami mountain area, straddling the northeastern prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi, is considered a good site for the ILC.

The ILC would draw thousands of scientists, so it would contribute to reconstruction after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, said Takeo Kawamura, former chief cabinet secretary and head of a nonpartisan lawmaker group seeking to realize the ILC construction in Japan.

The biggest obstacle is how to secure 740 billion to 800 billion yen in funds needed for the construction.

The construction would also involve Europe and others, so Japan's share of the costs is expected to be around half of the total.

But the Finance Ministry is cautious. "The figure is too big and the project would take a toll on other fields," officials say.

Meanwhile, China also has a plan to build a next-generation particle accelerator.

Nonpartisan group members worry that Europe, set to revise related research plans soon, may become interested in teaming with China if Japan does not make clear its intention to host the ILC within this year.

The envisioned LDP task force is expected to urge the government to secure funds for the project outside a normal budget framework for science, technology and universities.

"It's difficult for the science ministry to cover all funds," Kawamura said, indicating hopes for a political decision on the issue by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Jiji Press