Between Geneva and Haute-Savoie there is already the largest particle accelerator in the world. Property of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), this underground ring with a circumference of 27 km was inaugurated in 2008 and made it possible, four years later, to confirm the existence of the Higgs boson, i.e. one major scientific discoveries of the 21st century.
Today, CERN wants to go even further in its understanding of the universe and build a collider three times larger (91 km) by 2045, 200 m underground, still on the Franco-Swiss border. Eight surface infrastructures are planned, including six on the French side. Estimated cost: 16 billion euros. The feasibility study, based on ongoing drilling, will be delivered in March 2025. If the project is confirmed, work will begin in 2032.
But faced with this gigantism, voices are being raised in Haute-Savoie to warn of the environmental consequences of the future construction site. For example, a meeting with 300 participants was held on October 11 in Marlioz (Haute-Savoie), located on the route of the FCC (future circular collider). “We are not against science, but against this project,” assures Thierry Lemmel of the Co-cernés collective. Digging the tunnel will require removing enormous quantities of rubble. This represents a million truck trips,” or twice the pyramids of Khufu, calculated a Swiss association.
“We just learned that one of the surface platforms would be in our village. It will require deforestation of part of the forest, and no one here wants that,” protests another opponent, who also mentions the enormous electricity consumption of the device, equivalent to that of a city of 700,000 inhabitants. The Environmentalists have just tabled a motion for a democratic debate on the subject.
