The decision to terminate the project, while not completely unexpected, still shocked employees at the 16,000-acre site 30 miles south of Dallas. Suggestions under discussion have ranged from filling in the 14 miles of tunnel that have already been dug and tearing the buildings down, to having Texas take over the project in some form.īut even if some parts of the project can be salvaged, few employees think they will be involved. Congress directed the Department of Energy to come up with a plan by June that addresses possible future uses of the supercollider’s facilities and equipment. That would include the cost of settling the lawsuits that are expected to be filed by employees who are losing their jobs and possibly the State of Texas, which has invested in the project.Ī big question that remains to be answered is how much work can be salvaged, and in what form. Texas officials have predicted that the actual cost of shutting down the collider could be much higher - possibly $1 billion or more.
The vote came after House and Senate negotiators agreed that the $11-billion project, which was one-fifth complete, should be shut down. That amount allows for up to 90 days’ severance pay and relocation assistance for collider employees. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved an appropriations package last week that includes $640-million to terminate the supercollider. “It’s one thing to build something, and another to tear it down.” “Their hearts aren’t going to be in it,” said Mr. But employees who helped design and build the various components of the supercollider may soon have to turn their attention to taking them apart. “These are some of the best people in the world at what they do.” The laboratory employs about 2,100.Ī few projects that are nearly completed will probably be finished, he said. “A lot of people left good, secure positions to come here to try to make the supercollider,” said Raphael Kasper, associate lab director and chief of staff. Workers sat in stunned silence as they awaited word on how the “orderly shutdown” of the project would take place. Throughout the sprawling complex of the Superconducting Supercollider Laboratory, machines lay idle last week.
Waxahachie, Texas - Scientists and engineers from around the world who have spent the past several years building one of the most ambitious science projects in the history of humankind are now contemplating the grim task of taking it down.
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