12 Mar 2018 12:52

New CERN agreement to involve Russia in 2nd stage of Large Hadron Collider's construction, all experiments

MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) - Russia will sign a new agreement with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) this year to increase its involvement in CERN research projects, the press service of the Education and Science Ministry said in a statement.

"There are plans to sign a new agreement between the Russian government and CERN in 2018 to formalize Russia's involvement in the second stage of the construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and every experiment conducted there," the press service told Interfax.

Russia is not withdrawing from CERN; the sides are changing the format of their agreement, the representative said. It was agreed to sign a new deal last year. The new document will ensure "Russia's special status in the experiments," the press service said.

"This agreement will have a much higher status and heighten the level of interaction, compared to associated membership in the organization. This is why Russia has withdrawn its associated-membership application," it said.

The new agreement "will require CERN's participation in building mega-science facilities in Russia," the press service said.

The document is being finalized. It is due to be discussed by the CERN Scientific Policy Committee in the first half of this year and signed.

"As a result, Russia will markedly increase the level of its participation in the world's biggest organization of nuclear physics research," the press service said.

Russia has been cooperating with CERN for about 60 years, and the latest agreement was signed in 1993, it said. The status and the name of the organization that signed the document have changed since then, as have legislation and details of the experiment specified in the agreement.

CERN's press service said on Saturday that Moscow had rejected the status of an associated member. According to reports, Russia notified CERN of its decision in November 2017.