CERN researchers have presented a plan for the Future Ring Collider, known as BKK, to follow the Big Bang Collider BAC. The proposed accelerator would be a 91-kilometer ring, roughly three and a half times longer than the current tunnel. With this scale, scientists expect to run collisions that could illuminate fundamental questions in physics. The concept has circulated through the international science community and holds particular interest for researchers in Canada and the United States who support large-scale accelerator programs and global collaboration.
Underground, the tunnel would lie roughly 200 meters beneath the France-Switzerland border. Its interior diameter would be about five meters, larger than the current tunnel’s 3.8 meters, allowing space for more powerful magnets and more capable detectors. The extra room would also improve maintenance access and help with cooling and shielding, creating a more stable environment for sensitive equipment.
The project carries an estimated price tag of around 16 billion dollars. A final funding decision is expected in 2028. If it receives backing, construction could begin in the 2030s, with the first experiments targeted for the mid-2040s, around 2045. Achieving this timetable would require political support, industrial readiness, and strong cooperation among international partners.
Experts expect the BKK to measure the Higgs boson with greater precision, search for clues about dark matter and dark energy, and explore physics beyond the Standard Model. The Standard Model describes the basic particles and their interactions but does not include gravity, black holes, or the overall dynamics of the expanding universe. By increasing collision energy and data collection, the collider could test theories that unify forces, explain the origin of mass, and probe rare processes that have eluded earlier experiments.
Fabiola Gianotti, CERN Director-General, said the collision could become a powerful tool for probing the laws of nature. She emphasized that a project of this scale would anchor international collaboration and nurture the next generation of scientists. “This collision could be a powerful tool for probing the laws of nature,” Gianotti stated. Earlier experiments at the Large Hadron Collider yielded discoveries of new antiparticles, underscoring the value of continued exploration at higher energies.