The Tohoku ILC Planning Office (Director: Atsuto Suzuki, president of Iwate Prefectural University) held a seminar on the ILC for residents on January 19th at the Mizusawa Regional Center in Shoten, Mizusawa, Oshu City. There, they explained the effects the ILC might have on the environment.

Around twenty people were in attendance. Professor Shinichiro Michizono of Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture) and other researchers gave the talk.

Prof. Michizono stated the following about the beam dump mechanism (the device that absorbs the electron/positron beams) and the accelerator’s safety devices:
▽ The water in the beam dump, which will have accumulated the radioactive material called tritium (hydrogen-3), will be circulated back within the facility, not released into rivers
▽ The accelerator will be stopped during earthquakes and power outages

Participants asked things like, “How big of a chance does the ILC have of actually coming here?” and “Is this really safe, even though there are so many earthquakes and other movements of the earth’s crust?” (Translator’s note: The answers were not printed in the original article, but many of these answers can be found in our Frequently Asked Questions section)

The same seminar was also held in Ichinoseki City.