The UNK proton accelerator is an uncompleted project of 3

TeV TEV may refer to: * Transient Earth Voltage: a term for voltages appearing on the metal work of switchgear due to internal partial discharges * TeV, or teraelectronvolt or trillion electron volt, a measure of energy * Total Enterprise Value, a ...

large superconductor-based

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Large accelerators are used for fun ...

Protvino Protvino (russian: Протвино́) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about south of Moscow and west of Serpukhov, on the left bank of the Protva River. Population: History Construction of an urban-type settlement intended to hou ...

, near

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, at the

Institute for High Energy Physics State Research Center – Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEP) is a research organisation in Protvino (near Moscow, Moscow Oblast), Russia. It was established in 1963. The institute is known for the particle accelerator U-70 synchrotr ...

. The U-70 synchrotron commissioned in 1967 was supposed to act as an injector for the UNK proton-proton

collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

ring. Construction was started in 1983. In eleven years, a 21 kilometer long, 5 meter wide underground tunnel was completed, as well as 2.7 kilometer long a tunnel connecting U-70 with UNK. Electromagnetic, vacuum and surveillance equipment was mounted. After the breakup of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and the economic collapse in Russia the project was defunded and halted, and many scientists involved in the project were later engaged in other similar projects worldwide. The security and maintenance, however, were ensured. As the similar project has been already commissioned at CERN, the Russian Government has decided to direct the particle physics funding to another accelerator project -

NICA Nica or NICA may refer to: * Nīca, a village in Latvia * Nica, the name in some languages of Nice, a French city * Nica is an adjective which may refer to: ** Nicaragua ** Nicaraguan people * Nica Airlines, an alternate name for Nicaragüense de ...

References

See also