Dear all As you may have heard, there are many discussions now ongoing on to start with an ILC at 250 GeV to lower the initial cost of the project. There seems to be quite some support for this scenario from Japanese Government circles. There are four distinct scenarios one could think about which involve both machine and tunnel options a) 250 GeV machine in a 250 GeV tunnel Only build a tunnel suitable for 250 GeV machine, later updates will require major construction work b) 250 GeV machine in a 500 GeV tunnel Only build a 250 GeV machine but drill the complete 31 km tunnel for 500 GeV, later updates will only require installation of Cryomodules, RF, etc. and can be adiabatic c) 250 GeV machine in a 350 GeV tunnel Only build a 250 GeV machine but drill a tunnel suitable for 350 GeV machine With a 10% increase in cavity gradient, this can later be still enough to get to 500 GeV. The cost increase for the 350 GeV tunnel will be a few % d) 500 GeV or bust We need to start at 500 GeV, so go for the complete project as spec'ed in the TDR One should also point out, that the 250 GeV machine is not half-price, it is very roughly more like two-thirds of the 500 GeV machine, but detailed costing studies will be presented at the SLAC workshop Since this is really affecting the physics program and the associated timescales, we'd like to hear your input. Which option would you prefer, keeping the signals from Japan in mind ? Best wishes Andy & Marcel -- Marcel Stanitzki DESY/ATLAS Notkestraße 85, 22607 Hamburg Geb. : 1c/O1.338 Tel. : +49 40 8998 4930 Cell : +49 40 8998 9 4930 ######################################################################## Use REPLY-ALL to reply to list To unsubscribe from the SID-ALL list, click the following link: https://listserv.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=SID-ALL&A=1