The latest from the LHC

The consolidation campaign, managed by the Quench Protection team, is advancing well. Phase 1 of the campaign is focused on the new protection system designed to monitor the superconducting busbars. This system will be able to detect tiny electrical resistances on these busbars, similar to the one that caused the incident in Sector 3-4.

Following completion of the design of the two principal electronics boards, the first order for 2500 and 500 such boards will be placed this week. The manufacture of the cable segments for the first three LHC sectors is going ahead, and the installation programme has already begun in Sector 4-5. In total, more than 230 km of various types of cables will have to be laid.

The complete system will consist of a network of 2132 detectors housed in 436 crates around the machine. These will monitor the interconnections of the main dipoles and quadrupoles in the three major circuits. The detectors will precisely measure the electrical resistance of each busbar segment, including the joints. Together with improved, systematic and regular monitoring of the resistance inside each main magnet, not a single interconnection in the 24 main powering circuits will remain unmonitored with the new facilities and protection schemes.