The MEXT 2016 fiscal year proposed budget estimate is moving forward to set aside approximately 1 trillion yen for ILC-related costs, according to sources on August 25th.

The biggest issue about the ILC project it its cost: it will take over 1 trillion yen for just building the accelerator facilities (including labor cost). The proposed budget estimate includes costs for surveying about international projects that split large costs between different countries, as well as for developing element technologies that could help the ILC by reducing technology costs.

Until now, MEXT’s ILC related budget for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years have included 50 million yen for investigation costs deciding whether or not to host the ILC. The 2015 fiscal year budget included 30 million yen for advancement of accelerator technologies that would also contribute to the ILC, but the 2016 fiscal year budget estimate is breaking into more specific issues.