National labs seek to lure collider project

Hoping to lure a proposed multi-billion-dollar international experiment to Illinois, the state's two Energy Department laboratories have agreed to collaborate on R&D projects. Officials of Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory say the enhanced cooperation may increase the possibility of siting the International Linear Collider in the U.S., which faces competition for the project from Europe and Japan. DOE has expressed interest in hosting the ILC at Fermilab in Batavia, Ill. Fermilab is home of the Tevatron, a high-energy particle accelerator that smashes protons and antiprotons as a way for scientists to study the basic building blocks of nature. Accelerator technology is now used in medical diagnostic machines and material sciences research and at universities throughout the world. To strengthen Fermilab's attractiveness as a potential host for the ILC project, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has included a $3 million grant provision in his proposed fiscal 2007 budget to start an Illinois Accelerator Research Center at the facility. Blagojevich says the center would offer a focal point for accelerator research and industrialization in Illinois and would provide educational opportunities for a new generation of engineers and scientists. The state's General Assembly must approve the governor's budget for the project to go forward.