Even as Congress once again wrestles with levels of funding for the superconducting supercollider (SSC), plans for another large North American high-energy physics project are moving quietly but steadily ahead. While SSC supporters scramble to entice reluctant foreign partners to help foot an estimated $6 billion bill for what has always been promoted as a United States-led effort, the other project-a proposed $450 million Canadian accelerator-has been designed from the start with international cooperation in mind.
So far, the Canadian approach seems to be working better. Last month the project, known as KAON after the K mesons and other subatomic particles it will produce, was endorsed by a nuclear science panel, which advises the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation. The vote of confidence appears to doom the chances of a U.S. facility proposed by officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory. And in a bit of...
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