The State - News from April 5, 1987

Design standards for the proposed new Superconducting Super Collider call for a much larger facility than designers previously had estimated, and may affect California’s bid in the contest among several states to host the multibillion-dollar atom smasher. Federal standards for the machine, essentially a 54.4-mile-long underground tunnel, call for at least 15,830 acres of surface land and underground easements--about double earlier estimates. Also included are other conditions that may affect California’s bid, such as vibration limits. The proposed site east of Stockton includes a railroad line. William Baker, chairman of the California executive steering committee for the project, did not speculate whether the standards would seriously affect the state’s bid for the facility, but said that technical experts from the state’s top universities will be reviewing the standards more closely “to determine if plans for a California site would be further affected.”