Directorate News

Dear Colleagues,

Another operational year is in full swing. Following a busy, very well executed YETS and recommissioning of the full accelerator complex, everything is now up and running impressively well – progress recently summarized in the Bulletin (already a fifth of the way there). 

Recent highlights on the HL-LHC front include the successful completion of the full series of tests of the full-scale prototype superconducting link system. After a thermal cycle, all circuits have been successfully powered – individually and simultaneously to their maximum current (18 kA, 15 kA, 7 kA and 2 kA) – and the low resistance of the various splices was  confirmed marking the significant achievement of the qualification the first MgB2 and REBCO high current system operated in helium gas.

The latest CERN produced Nb₃Sn inner triplet quadrupole (MQXFB04) has performed very well, reaching the target current at both 1.9 and 4.5 K after a thermal cycle. This is the second of the series production incorporating all measures adopted to address the previously observed limitations and the really very good performance gives us confidence that the challenging production process is mastered. (Nice images of both SC link and Q2 assembly here.)

Away from the action, the draft 2024 Medium Term Plan (MTP) was presented to the Scientific Policy Committee and Finance Committee mid-May and will formally be discussed for approval by Council in June. The MTP presents the scientific and financial strategy for the next 5-year period (2025-2029), the draft budget for next year (2025), and the 10-year outlook.

This is a major bottom-up exercise for ATS, with input from the departments, groups, and projects followed by arbitration at the sector level and then across the whole Organization. It’s a complex process and some gymnastics are required to fit the approved requests into the overall financial envelope. Electricity costs are included and the recent fall in prices has certainly helped with more reasonable 10 year projections.

For ATS, the draft includes additional allocations for our North Area and Accelerator consolidation programmes, the Electrical and Personnel Safety System Projects, the HL-LHC for electron cloud mitigation and in-house beryllium beampipe production. The scientific diversity programme saw confirmation of funding for the High Intensity Upgrade of North Area’s ECN3 where the SHiP experiment will search for feebly interacting particles, and new beam dumps for ISOLDE to replace the existing dumps which require replacement to conform to modern standards and to make them compatible with increased intensity and energy

Looking further ahead there is foreseen provision, including staff, for an FCC pre-TDR phase (April 2025 – end of 2027). Here the main goal is to provide comprehensive information to the Council for a decision in 2028. Activities include further development of civil engineering and technical designs to refine cost estimates, technical R&D, site investigations, and integration studies to specify infrastructure requirements.

The next phase of AWAKE (how to surf to high energies) is approved with additional material and staff resources pledged. The Superconducting RF R&D programme (new horizons in SRF: beyond the HL-LHC) is also slated to receive additional, staffed, support.

From an ATS perspective, the proposed draft MTP is a good balance between the safe, diverse exploitation of the complex in the near and medium term, and the development of credible plans for the long-term future along with R&D for the key technologies with sustainability in mind.

While the complex is now fully operational, preparations are already ongoing for Long Shutdown 3 (LS3). LS3 is going to be very busy for the whole accelerator complex with the execution of major consolidation projects, the installation of HL-LHC in the machine and experiments including the new CO2 detector cooling system for ATLAS and CMS – plus lots more besides.

The LS3 Coordination team is now in place, regular meetings have started with planning and preparations well underway. This in close collaboration with all stakeholders, in particular with the HL-LHC team who have necessarily developed detailed plans for their intense programme of work. There will a LS3 Readiness review later this year on 11 -13 September. 

We’ll bring you up to date on the final outcome of the June Council meeting and implications at an ATS presentation at 14:00 on the 24th June – invitation to follow.

Other news

The redesigned ATS website is available at  https://ats.web.cern.ch/

There will be a day long  ATS Workshop  on 25^th June covering Engineering and Project Management tools and processes – open to all. It aims to provide the opportunity to share experiences, expertise, challenges, methodologies and solutions. 

For those of you who might have missed it: the latest Medical Applications News

There’s an interesting article on Engineering Materials for Big Science in the latest edition of the CERN Courier describing some of the pioneering work of the EN Materials, Metrology and Non-Destructive Testing (MM) Section.

Interesting times! Thanks everybody for all your efforts and the continued remarkable performance and progress on all fronts.

Mike