CERN Director-General Shares Advice about International Projects and Costing
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On Monday morning CERN Director-General Robert Aymar addressed Global Group 5 – Cost and Engineering to share his experiences with ITER, an international project that many ILC scientists are using as a model. Aymar described the twenty-year cost estimate and planning process for ITER. Global Group 5 members had the opportunity to ask Aymar questions that ranged from “Will the ILC need an international treaty?” to “Will the ILC take twenty years to plan like ITER?” Aymar warned about such complications as exchange rates over a period of ten years. He explained that the Japan to U.S. exchange rate varied by more than 50% over ten years. “The estimates start side by side and end up with very different costs because you are not working with the world market,” said Aymar. He also advised scientists to keep in mind that the government’s timescale is very different from the scientific timescale. “International cooperation is a good way to slow down everything,” he said. “As soon as you get through to the diplomats to get an international agreement, you have to follow their timescale, not the technical timescale.” Aymar’s final words of advice to Global Group 5 were to define a goal. “Our goal for ITER was to provide each party with an understanding of an equitable contribution,” he said. “Presenting the cost estimate for the ILC is totally different. You have to put in very strong terms what the goal is for the costing estimate.”