Firing up the LCLS
Saturday, December 13, 2008
8:25 am The mood's a bit hushed but electric this morning in SLAC's main control center as operators and physicists prepare for the first electron beam shot into the LCLS. Beam commissioning in the linac sections has been going on for some time, but this will be the first time electrons have traveled through the transport lines across the research yard and into the undulator sections. With any luck they will have beam all the way into the beam dump area by lunch time.
9:10 am At the moment a few members of the radiation physics department is conducting a sweep of the facility to ensure no unauthorized persons remain in the hall. Seems to be taking some time… but it's a big place. Part of today's tests include intentionally mis-steering the beam at low energy to test the beam-loss monitoring system. This safety checkout will create an important benchmark for understanding what higher energy beams would do. But it also intensifies and already stringent set of safety guidelines. Security vigilance near the exclusion zones is about as serious as it gets. Any unauthorized person within 20 feet of the beam transport hall would shut down the whole project up to the level of the Department of Energy. 9:15 am The authorization has been signed, and the head of accelerator systems has officially unlocked the circuit (and of course, the key is on bright red chain) to enable withdrawal of the beam stoppers. As soon as the security sweep is complete, the button gets pushed. Could be any minute -- word is the last step is putting security tape on some stairs near the research yard. posted by Brad Plummer @ 8:00am
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