Europe is moving forward with a $17 billion supercollider plan. The plan will build the Future Circular Collider (FCC) with a 91-kilometer orbit beneath the French and Swiss countryside to help researchers study the Higgs boson in detail. But according to "Nature", scientists are facing tremendous pressure to build a super collider due to the lack of new physics discoveries at the 27-kilometer-long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) currently operating outside Geneva, Switzerland. They have to convince funders that such a huge investment is worth it.

Details of the plan come from an interim report from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) studying the feasibility of the FCC. The report has not yet been made public, but it is certain that once completed, the collider will dwarf its predecessor, the 27-kilometer LHC.

It is reported that the FCC may start construction as early as 2033, which requires drilling a 91-kilometer-long circular track 200 meters underground, encircling an area larger than the area of ​​Chicago in the United States. According to the design proposal, this track is divided by 4 experimental halls.

CERN Director General Fabiola Gianotti pointed out that a large part of the funding for the FCC construction plan will be paid for by the existing CERN budget.

In addition, the program still requires financial support from full CERN member states and associate members such as the United States and Japan, but the report did not provide any information on costs.

"They seem to be avoiding giving specific figures, such as costs and possible cost sharing by non-member states." American physics historian Michael Riordan said.

There is opposition to the plan from some scientists, who argue that the costs of building such a giant collider outweigh the benefits, especially when theory does not point clearly to what might be discovered.

It is reported that the complete research report of the plan will be released next year, and the relevant departments are expected to make a decision on whether to approve the plan before 2028.