The International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA), which is the central body pushing forth the ILC project in Japan/USA/Europe, approved a change in plans to shorten the accelerator to 20km, around 2/3rds its original length. In response to this, Mayor Osamu Katsube of Ichinoseki City, part of the ILC candidate site, said on the 13th, “This is joyous news, and something we have been waiting for.” Construction costs have been reduced by 40% to around 500 billion yen, which is thought to push the national government to make a decision on how they stand on the ILC.

Regarding the smaller start to the project, Mayor Katsube said, “It’s not a major problem. Since it’s a linear collider, they can add length to each side when it becomes necessary.” At 20 km, the ILC would most likely fall largely within Ichinoseki City’s borders.

On the 11th, there were 2 informatory sessions in the Ohara district of Ichinoseki (also part of the candidate site) for local citizens about the geological survey done by Tohoku University and Iwate Prefecture. The session was led by Jun Sasaki, Executive Director of the Office of Science and ILC Promotion of Iwate Prefecture, who said that after the national government makes a decision in summer of next year, “it will take four years to prepare international agreements that will link the participating countries with the organization that would head the ILC. Construction would take 10 years, so at the very earliest the ILC would start operations in 14 years.”