Large Hadron Collider Down by Transformer

The much hyped Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is already down due to a faulty transformer. However, it’s not your typical PC circuit transformer. Weighing 30 tonnes, the special transformer is responsible for cooling part of the collider. And we surely wouldn’t want the collider to overheat, would we?

If somehow you missed the news which was all over the blogosphere, the Large Hadron Collider, which is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator complex, was up and running last week by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland.

“The transformer, weighing 30 tonnes and with a rating of 12 MVA, was exchanged over the weekend. During this process, the cryogenics system was put into a standby mode with the two sectors kept at around 4.5 K,” explained CERN. “Since the beginning of the week the cryogenics team have been busy re-cooling the magnets and preparing for operation with beam, which is currently forecast for today.”