Accelerator Report: The accelerator complex is gradually waking up from the winter shutdown

Beam commissioning is progressing well in CERN’s accelerator complex, with beams already at the gates of the SPS

By Matteo Solfaroli, Deputy Leader of the Operations Group (BE-OP)

The LHC key passes from the Accelerator Coordination and Engineering Group in the Engineering Department (EN-ACE), on the left, to the Operations Group in the Beams Department (BE-OP), after completion of the DSO tests – always a symbolic moment at the end of a YETS. (Image: CERN)

The 2026 Chamonix Workshop took place last week and brought together the accelerator and experimental communities to review the recent operational performance of the accelerator complex and discuss challenges ahead. The programme included a look back at the 2025 operation as well as an overview of this year’s final stretch of Run 3 and of the post-LS3 (Long Shutdown 3) operation. With LS3 approaching, discussions centred on the upcoming HL-LHC upgrades, as well as consolidation activities in the North Area and ISOLDE, and on the construction of the HiECN3 facility. The workshop concluded with an outlook on CERN’s longer-term future, including progress on the Future Circular Collider (FCC) project and the implications of the European Strategy for Particle Physics.

As for the current status of the accelerator complex, the transition into the 2026 run – the last year of Run 3 – is particularly rapid. Responsibility was transferred from the year-end technical stop (YETS) coordination team to the Operations Group (BE-OP) to perform the Departmental Safety Officer (DSO) tests, followed by equipment and control checks, machine checkout and, finally, beam commissioning.

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