What you say is true, but the info I have is that the scientists were on site, and the pressure to delay construction and continue with the experiments was heavy. The Boson had been confirmed to 3,000/1 odds, and many people felt that only a few months would give desired confirmation odds 3 or four orders of magnitude better. However, this conceptual breakthrough issue was stressed as a reason why the Cern people were satisfied they had found what they wanted, and wished to get moving on the next stage of the project. Competing with the Americans at Enrico Fermi is only important if there is something earth shaking about finding the Boson...I gather from what I have read that the people at Cern are now looking for other "things". Best Wishes, Sam