The first LHC sector is fully interconnected

Sector 7-8 is the first sector of the LHC to become fully operational. All the magnets, cryogenic line, vacuum chambers and services are interconnected. The cool down of this sector can soon commence.


LHC project leader Lyn Evans, the teams from CERN's AT/MCS, AT/VAC and AT/MEL groups, and the members of the IEG consortium celebrate the completion of the first LHC sector.

The 10th of November was a red letter day for the LHC accelerator teams, marking the completion of the first sector of the machine. The magnets of sector 7-8, together with the cryogenic line, the vacuum chambers and the distribution feedboxes (DFBs) are now all completely interconnected. Sector 7-8 has thus been closed and is the first LHC sector to become operational.

The interconnection work required several thousand electrical, cryogenic and insulating connections to be made on the 210 interfaces between the magnets in the arc, the 30 interfaces between the special magnets and the interfaces with the cryogenic line.

'This represents an important milestone for the project', says Lyn Evans, the LHC project leader. 'I would like to congratulate all the LHC teams involved in achieving this result'.

The interconnect work was done by the IEG consortium and coordinated by the AT/MCS group. The AT/VAC and AT/MEL groups were also involved in the vacuum and electrical testing. 'We will now perform the pressure test and extensive electrical tests in the sector', explains Francesco Bertinelli (AT/MCS), head of the interconnection project. The cool down of the sector, designed to test how it functions at the LHC's operating temperature of -271°C, will begin at the end of the year.