New York is positively charged to compete for ion collider
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo at a news conference at Hofstra University on Jan. 14, 2015. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa
Fight's on.
The U.S Department of Energy is likely to give the nod this year to building an electron ion collider, a $600-million project considered the next big thing in nuclear physics. It should be built on Long Island at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
But Virginia is also trying to lure the high-profile project, with its good paying jobs, massive construction dollars and bragging rights as a site for Nobel Prize-level research. Brookhaven's competitor is the Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News. Last month, Gov. Terry McAuliffe pledged $4.2 million from Virginia's coffers to demonstrate his state's support to the DOE.
Then New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo upped the ante by putting $65 million for BNL in the budget he is unveiling today, with $25 million earmarked for siting the collider. Some of the $25 million would build housing for visiting scientists. That's a muscular demonstration of the state's commitment to winning.
