Ahead of 2015 new look, CERN replaces LH Coolider in first long shutdown - Microfinance Monitor

The CERN accelerator complex is in its first long shutdown as engineers and maintenance crew are repairing and strengthening its accelerator components in preparation for running at higher energy in 2015. As part of the shutdown, up to 18 superconducting magnets on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be replaced, including 15 dipole magnets 3 and quadrupole magnet assemblies. Quadrupole magnets help to focus the particles into a tight beam so they are more likely to collide in greater numbers as they reach the LHC detectors. Each quadrupole has four magnetic poles arranged symmetrically around the beam pipe to squeeze the beam either vertically or horizontally. Last week, technicians lowered a replacement quadrupole magnet assembly down the access shaft to the ALICE cavern. The cavern provides a handy access point to get equipment in and out of the LHC tunnel. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has provided physicists with a huge quantity of data to analyse since the first physics run in 2009. Now the machine, along with CERN's other accelerators, is getting a facelift. "Long Shutdown 1″ (LS1) began on 14 February 2013 and there will be no collisions for a period of almost two years, and the whole CERN site has turned into a hive of activity, with large-scale work under way to modernize the infrastructure and prepare the LHC for operation at higher energy. Simon Baird, deputy head of the Engineering department, said:"The key driver is of course the consolidation of the 10,170 high-current splices between the superconducting magnets. The teams will start by opening up the 1695 interconnections between each of the cryostats of the main magnets. They will repair and consolidate around 500 interconnections simultaneously. The maintenance work will gradually cover the entire 27-kilometre circumference of the LHC." The LHC will be upgraded as well as renovated during the period concerned. In the framework of the Radiation to Electronics project (R2E), sensitive electronic equipment protection will be optimized by relocating the equipment or by adding shielding. Apart from the LHC, other major renovation work scheduled includes the Proton Synchrotron (PS) and the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). During this phase, the upgrade of the PS access control system, which includes the installation of 25 new biometrically controlled access points, will continue. The whole tunnel ventilation system will also be dismantled and replaced, with 25 air-handling units representing a cumulated flow rate of 576,000 cubic metres per hour to be installed around the accelerator's 628-metre circumference. Meanwhile, at the SPS, about 100 kilometres of radiation-damaged cables used in the instrumentation and control systems will be removed or replaced. CERN will also improve the installations connected with the experiments, accelerators, and electronics with a view to resume its main activities after the shutdown. via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHtxJsneEy8AOos98lEvd7B_WTw-A&url=http://www.microfinancemonitor.com/2013/06/09/ahead-of-2015-new-look-cern-replaces-lh-coolider-in-first-long-shutdown/

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