This Science News Wire page contains a press release issued by an organization and is provided to you "as is" with little or no review from Science X staff.

Repairs ongoing on electrical installations at CERN

May 3rd, 2016
Repairs ongoing on electrical installations at CERN
On Friday 29 April 2016, a short circuit in one of the electrical transformers cut power to the LHC. It was caused by a beech marten. Credit: Margot Frenot/CERN

At around 5:30 am on Friday 29 April 2016, a small beech marten found its way onto a large, open-air electrical transformer situated above ground at CERN, causing a short circuit and cutting the power to part of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The concerned part of the LHC stopped immediately and safely. Since then the entire machine has remained in standby mode.

When the little animal jumped onto the transformer, it created a small electrical arc, damaging high-voltage transformer connections.

Many of CERN's sites are located in the countryside and similar events have happened a few times in the past. They are part of life of such an accelerator, as with any large industrial installation.

A team assessed the situation over the weekend and found no indication of damage inside the transformer. Repairs to the connections are hoped to be completed by the end of the week, as the LHC continues to prepare for the 2016 physics run.

Provided by CERN

Citation: Repairs ongoing on electrical installations at CERN (2016, May 3) retrieved 5 May 2024 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/223721091/repairs-ongoing-on-electrical-installations-at-cern.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
Back to list