How to Commission, Operate and Maintain a Large Future Accelerator Complex from Far Remote

A study on future large accelerators [1] has considered a facility, which is designed, built and operated by a worldwide collaboration of equal partner institutions, and which is remote from most of these institutions. The full range of operation was considered including commi-ssioning, machine development, maintenance, trouble shooting and repair. Experience from existing accele-rators confirms that most of these activities are already performed 'remotely'. The large high-energy physics ex-periments and astronomy projects, already involve inter-national collaborations of distant institutions. Based on this experience, the prospects for a machine operated remotely from far sites are encouraging. Experts from each laboratory would remain at their home institution but continue to participate in the operation of the machine after construction. Experts are required to be on site only during initial commissioning and for par-ticularly difficult problems. Repairs require an on-site non-expert maintenance crew. Most of the interventions can be made without an expert and many of the rest resolved with remote assistance. There appears to be no technical obstacle to controlling an accelerator from a distance. The major challenge is to solve the complex management and communication problems