CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) builds and operates a complex of particle accelerators that is unique in the world, with the aim of understanding the composition of the universe and how it works.
The accelerator currently in service, the LHC, has made it possible to test the limits of the Standard Model, the theory that describes the fundamental particles and their interactions, and has revealed the existence of the Higgs boson, a remarkable scientific breakthrough crowned by a Nobel Prize. The Standard Model is a remarkably successful theory, but it leaves a number of questions open, including the nature of dark matter, the mass of neutrinos and the role of antimatter.
The answers to these questions require even more precise measurements using appropriate experimental tools. This is why CERN is working on the future circular collider (FCC) project. Placed in a tunnel around 100 km long, on French and Swiss territory, with a dozen access shaft heads, this major scientific facility is at the feasibility study stage.
Since 2016, Cerema has been providing CERN with its expertise by providing assistance to the project owner regarding the impacts and opportunities for CERN and the region in terms of location, organisation and procedures to be carried out.
It is in this context that Cerema has applied, alongside CERN, for a European H2020 project, to look into various aspects of the study. In particular, Cerema will contribute to the following themes:
- Optimising infrastructure placement in relation to territorial constraints,
- The transnational environmental assessment framework,
- Management of excavated materials,
- Identification of potential territorial benefits.
Following validation of the project by the European Commission and the recent signing of contracts by all the partners, the project was officially launched during the FCC Workshop week, bringing together all those involved in particle physics.
Due to sanitary conditions, this launch event was held remotely from 9 to 13 November 2020 and brought together more than 900 participants from all over the world.
As part of the European project, Cerema's work will take place over 4 years and will involve around fifteen people from the various directorates. Now that the project has been officially launched, the various Work Packages will be set up in the next few days to begin their work.
The aim is to finalise the feasibility studies by the end of 2025, with a view to taking a strategic decision by 2027 on whether to continue with the project.