Brookhaven National Lab Selected For $1 Billion Ion Collider

Upton, NY — New York Senator Chuck Schumer announced today that Suffolk County's Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) has been chosen as the site of an approximately $1B electric ion collider. The Senate Minority Leader worked to secure the project for BNL for years, including negotiations as part of a recent budget deal, according to his office.

The electric ion collider (EIC) would be the first of its kind nationally, and BNL's proposal cited its existing Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) which can be configured to new use by the U.S. Department of Energy. Senator Schumer says the project "will be a boost to science, technology, jobs, and the Long Island economy."

“Establishing the electron ion collider on Long Island might be focused on particles, but it will add some serious mass—nearly $1 billion dollars’ worth—to the local economy,” stated Schumer.

“In addition, BNL has the talent, the technology and the track-record to make the most of this national project. The lab is used to taking on big projects, critical research and the most serious questions science can pose. The Department of Energy is right to keep the momentum going and chose Long Island for the newest collider.”

According to a press statement from Paul Dabbar, the undersecretary for science for the Department of Energy, the nuclear physics machine should be running by 2030.

Do you think this project will be a boon to the Long Island economy? Tell us in the comments below.