William Atkins
Saturday, 20 June 2009 19:46
Science -
Energy
Page 1 of 2
On June 19, 2009, CERN officials announced that its super-fast particle accelerator and collider will restart in the fall of 2009, several weeks later than originally scheduled due to additional repairs and tests to the system.
The press release “
CERN reports on progress towards LHC restart” stated, on June 19, 2009, that at the 151st session of the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) Council, CERN Director General
Rolf Heuer "... confirmed the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) remains on schedule for a restart this autumn, albeit about 2-3 weeks later than originally foreseen.”
The LHC has been down following a September 19, 2008 event that involved a defective slice in a high-current superconducting electrical cable that connected two magnets in sector 3-4 of the Large Hadron Collider.
The problem led to mechanical damage and release of liquid helium, which further caused damage to a sub-sector of the LHC.
The new schedule states that beams in the LHC will begin to circulate within the ring by the end of September 2009, and particle collisions will begin to take place in late October 2009.
Dr. Heuer stated,
“The schedule we have now is without a doubt the best for the LHC and for the physicists waiting for data. It is cautious, ensuring that all the necessary work is done on the LHC before we start up, yet it allows physics research to begin this year.” [ScienceDaily.com: “
CERN Management Confirms New LHC Restart Schedule”]
According to CERN officials new techniques have been developed that are able to analyze the quality of such slices in these cables. The enhanced protection system measures the electrical resistance in the cables at the splices (or, joints). They state that around 10,000 splices are located within the LHC ring.
Steve Myers, the director for accelerators at CERN, stated
“Many new tests have been developed. That’s given us a wealth of information about the LHC splices, and confidence that we will be in good shape for running this year.” [ScienceDaily.com]
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