Including Chair Dr. Joachim Mnich, top members of the ICFA (International Committee on Future Accelerators) which is composed of heads of the world’s particle physics research facilities, held a press conference in Tokyo on February 26th, announcing the start of a subcommittee for working towards realization of the ILC. The subcommittee will consider technical issues for building the ILC in the Kitakami mountains (Kitakami highlands) extending through Iwate and Miyagi prefecture. This new action by the top research facilities of the world is drawing attention as possibly adding momentum to Japan’s decision to host the ILC and building international cooperation.
The press conference was held along with the ICFA’s general meeting, with Dr. Mnich of DESY, Director-General of CERN Fabiola Gianotti, Director of Fermilab Nigel Lockyer and Director-General of KEK Masanori Yamauchi attending.
Dr. Mnich expressed desire for realizing the ILC, saying “ICFA is not just Japan, the US and Europe, but also countries including Russia, China and Korea are participants, and they also support the ILC for scientific reasons. We too are strongly supportive of the ILC.”