The ILC Committee and Technical Verification Working Group were set up by the Science Council of Japan to deliberate on the revised ILC plan for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). They met in Tokyo on November 21st for their 11th meeting, where they decided to continue their deliberations on their answer to MEXT, pushing back a conclusion on the ILC.
The meeting was closed to the press, and lasted for around two hours. According to their secretariat, they discussed the draft answer that was made public on November 14th. The ILC Preparation Office of KEK (Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Pref.) and the Tohoku ILC Promotion Council determined the draft to have “factual errors and a lack of understanding”, and have created a document outlining their opinions and further explanation. That document was presented to the committee members on the 21st.
After the last meeting, ILC Committee Chair Yasuhiro Iye (Director of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) said that their answer, including their opinions and overall assessment of the ILC project, would be released at this meeting. However, according to their secretariat, that document was not released at this meeting. To the press, Chair Iye said, “We are still at the deliberation stage.” It is not decided yet when the next meeting will be held.
The ILC Committee intends to put together their final answer within the year. After the committee’s final answer is approved by the Science Council of Japan’s Board of Directors, it will be submitted to MEXT. The national government will take this into account as they decide their approach going forward.