Within the Oshu City Council is a special committee that is investigating the ILC and the area around it that will serve as a zone of international science and technological research (Committee chair: Tadashi Watanabe). They met on the 16th at Oshu City Hall, and Jun Sasaki, Executive Director of the Office of Science and ILC Promotion of Iwate Prefecture, was invited to give a lecture. There, he gave an in-depth explanation about the prefecture’s strategies regarding the realization of the next-generation large-scale particle collider, the International Linear Collider. He also talked about initiatives that would be necessary for Oshu City, and also talked about the issue of local governments having to partially fund new infrastructure.
Mr. Sasaki titled his speech, “The prefecture’s strategy for the ILC construction plan,” and talked about how the Japanese candidate site was chosen, and the current status of deliberations on the ILC by the panel of experts at the national level. He also explained the story behind the Federation of Diet Members for the ILC and how they are proceeding with deliberations with the American side.
Mr. Sasaki also spoke about the Iwate ILC Coordination Office, installed recently in Morioka City within the Advanced Science and Technology Center (part of the Iwate Industry Promotion Center). The Iwate ILC Coordination Office was established following the installation of the Tohoku ILC Preparation Office by the Tohoku Conference for the Promotion of the ILC. “As the Iwate hub for ILC project activities, we will develop the region as an environment where foreign scientists can live and work, as well as publicize the project both within and outside Iwate. As we expand, we will strengthen our initiatives going forward.”
For future initiatives going forward, the ILC will need the help of Oshu City, as it is part of the proposed ILC site. “Scientists will want to do their research near the detector devices. Oshu City is close by, so we need to prepare residential areas here.”
Mr. Sasaki then spoke about the financial burden that local governments will have to take on. “Financial obligations will be decided by negotiations between Japan and the rest of the participating countries. However, even local governments will have to take on their fair share of the costs of roads, water pipes, and other infrastructure.”