Cern scientists planning to build 'atom-smasher' machine bigger than LHC

Scientists at the European particle physics centre, Cern, are considering building a 100-km underground "atom-smasher" that will be four times the size of the existing Large Hadron Collide that is some 27km long.

The tunnel would reach to the Alps in the east, the Jura mountains in the west and go under Lake Geneva, the BBC reported.

Dr Rolf Heuer, director general of Cern, argues it is already time to start thinking about what will follow the LHC, which is itself a world record beater as a science facility, even though that machine has only been running a few years.

Heuer explained that his team has very long lead times because their projects are ambitious, and they need a lot of research and development.

Take as an example the LHC, Heuer continued saying, it is just three years into full swing, but the real discussions on the LHC started in 1983 and the first meeting on the physics in 1984.

The first data were taken in 2009, so they need a long lead time and that's why they start now to kick off this project, Heuer insisted.