My father and I were having a discussion about physics (his hobby). 
He told me that in near future accelerators would be build that could
collide particles with such momentum that ferocious amounts of energy
would be released, and that this might create a tear in the fabric of
space that would expand at the speed of light engulfing our poor solar
system in a matter of minutes.  My question is, is this possible? And
if so can we take the risk of performing such experiments?

Hi,

Thanks for an interesting questions. If you search google for the
keywords:

particle-accelerator destroy universe

you will find several useful links on this subject. I'll highlight
some of them that directly answers your question, and you can read
others for extra information:


http://rhip.phys.utk.edu/rhip/RHICNews/Essay%20Will%20Brookhaven%20Destroy%20the%20Universe%20Probably%20Not.htm
Will Brookhaven Destroy the Universe? Probably Not.

One idea was that a tear in space-time, perhaps caused by one of the
Tevatron's proton collisions, might bring on the collapse of the false
vacuum, annihilating all matter in the path of its collapse. The
collapse bubble would balloon outward at the speed of light,
eventually destroying the universe.

The trouble with this ingenious idea, physicists soon realized, was
that if such a catastrophe could occur it would have happened long
ago. The earth is constantly peppered by cosmic-ray particles, some of
which have energies 100 million times greater than the energies of
particles accelerated by the Tevatron or any other machine, and yet
the universal vacuum floor is intact and we, the earth and the
universe are still here. The Tevatron itself has been producing rich
discoveries for years, without endangering anyone.
...
So the trick will be sorting out the red herrings like accelerator
disasters and polywater from the real dangers. While we're at it, we
might quit basing self-esteem on the ability of the human race to
commit collective suicide.


http://www.vafps.org/ng-willscientist.html
Will Scientists Destroy the Universe?

Consider an experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long
Island, New York. In order to increase our understanding of the Big
Bang, scientists will use the world's most powerful particle
accelerator to fire gold ions through a magnetic switchyard.
...
So what's the problem? Some scientists think that, at least in theory,
the creation of QGP could trigger the formation of a type of subatomic
particle called stragelets which "eats" all matter it encounters. This
chain reaction would continue until all matter in the universe had
been converted into strangelets.

The chances of such a catastrophic event actually occurring are
extremely remote. But MIT physicist Bob Jaffe admits, "You never
know."


http://www.phys.cwru.edu/~krauss/Essaymarch14.html
Pushing the Limits of Science, and of Public Relations

An online news network reported that a "world-destroying black hole"
might be formed in experiments about to begin at the Brookhaven
National Laboratory on Long Island.
...
The problem with taking this literally, of course, is that the scale
is all wrong. The collision between a pair of gold nuclei is a whopper
on a subatomic scale.

But the total amount of energy in the collision is sufficient to heat
up a teaspoon of water by about one millionth of a degree. This
emergency would have to be multiplied by some incredible new chain
reaction even to be noticeable without sophisticated measuring
apparatus.


Hope this helps
Regards
Bio

Thanks for the answer, very informative, I like the idea of strangelets.

NO, THE EARTH WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED IN ANY BIG OR SLOW BANG. HAVE A
LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES FROM THE BIBLE. THE MAJOR RELIGIONS
NEVER EVEN MENTION THESE. ECCLESIASTES 1:4.."BUT THE EARTH IS STANDING
EVEN TO TIME INDEFINITE"...PSALM 104:5..." HE HAS FOUNDED THE EARTH
UPON ITS ESTABLISHED PLACES, IT WILL NOT BE MADE TO TOTTER TO TIME
INDEFINITE, OR FOREVER....ISIAH 45:18.."HE THE ONE WHO FIRMLY
ESTABLISHED IT, WHO DID NOT CREATE IT SIMPLY FOR NOTHING, WHO FORMED
IT EVEN TO BE INHABITED." AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, ISIAH
40/;22..."THERE IS ONE WHO IS DWELLING ABOVE THE CIRCLE OF THE EARTH,
THE DWELLERS IN WHICH ARE AS GRASSHOPPERS"...NO! GOD {WHOSE NAME IS
FOUND IN PSALM 83/;18} WILL NEVER LET THE EARTH BE DESTROYED. HE HAS
BIGGER PLANS. CHRISTIAN LOVE.

It is said that energy cannot be destroyed or created. Only changed.

I believe that the end of the universe will come about when all energy
comes to a point/state that it will never change from.

(damn! I should copyright that! anyone know if someone else has worked that out?)