Category: Miscellaneous
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Accelerator Report: The 2026 run will be short but intense
During the recommissioning phase, the operations teams, together with equipment and machine-protection experts, worked around the clock to bring the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) back into operation. Finally, on the afternoon of Saturday, 7 March, stable beams for physics data taking were declared for the first time in 2026. This milestone marks the beginning of the…
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CRANEbot Validates Remote Maintenance Procedure for ATLAS VAX M1
A remote-handling test of the VAX M1 vacuum module was successfully carried out in the ATLAS cavern using the CRANEbot robot developed within the BE-CEM group.
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New collimators for HiLumi LHC: pre-series paving the way to full production
Teams at CERN are working hard to perform essential tests on three pre-series collimators to validate their new designs and give the final green light for the full series production for the High-Luminosity LHC (HiLumi LHC). The pre-series includes a more-traditional single-beam collimator and two new X-series collimators which feature a double-beam design, new for…
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Accelerator Report: Protons are heading towards the LHC
Many activities are currently progressing across the accelerator chain as the complex moves steadily towards full operation. In the injectors, beam commissioning is advancing well, with the highlights being the start of the physics programme at ELENA on 20 February and the ongoing scrubbing run in the SPS.
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Start of cryogenic cooldown of the IT String | home.cern
CERN has reached a crucial milestone in the advancement of the High-Luminosity LHC project with the start of the cryogenic cooldown to 1.9 K (‑271.3 °C) of the IT String, a full-scale replica of the innovative equipment that will transform the LHC in the coming years.
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Accelerator Report: The accelerator complex is gradually waking up from the winter shutdown
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.
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Accelerator Report: A very busy technical stop ahead of Long Shutdown 3
The accelerator complex delivered its last beams of 2025 on 8 December before beginning the year-end technical stop (YETS). During a technical stop, the responsibility for accelerator coordination is passed to the Engineering department’s Accelerator Coordination and Engineering group (EN-ACE) to oversee the many interventions planned in the accelerator complex.
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A cryogenic winter for tomorrow’s accelerator
The first large refrigerators for the High-Luminosity LHC have been installed.
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Accelerator Report: A strong finish and a swift transition into the winter break
The early morning of 8 December offered a reminder that, in accelerator operations, not everything always goes according to plan. During the final weekend of the 2025 LHC run, the machine had been running almost like a Swiss clock, with short turnaround times (i.e. the interval between dumping one fill and declaring stable beams for…
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Another year of outstanding accelerator complex performance
By Mike Lamont Another fantastic year of LHC proton–proton operation came to an end on 18 November, with 125 fb⁻¹ delivered to both ATLAS and CMS, 12.5 fb⁻¹ to LHCb and a smidgeon to ALICE in line with their more modest proton demands. All this follows the similarly spectacular performance of 2024. Over the full…