12th Workshop on Accelerator Operations

Presentation of the experiences at RHIC shutting down and restarting with remote operations. Changes to the group, shifts and operating modes will be covered.

In March 2020 Covid hit our lifes and changed everything.
At the beginning rules were decided day by day and changed, measures were taken, not only in the government but also in GSI. The beam time schedule was uncertain and no one knew if GSI would still be open the next day.
But everything continued running, changes for our safety like our new disinfectant dispenser and wearing a mask, were...

When the pandemic hit Europe in spring 2020, the GSI/FAIR accelerator facilities were in the middle of a user beam time and after the first external user groups affected by the travel ban had to cancel their participation, we were faced with the decision to cancel the beam time as well. However, some local research groups organised a way to continue their experiments on their own, in exchange...

My talk will focus on the synchrotron's operations team's response to Victoria's Covid-19 outbreak broken into four distinct periods.

From March of 2020 to May 2020 the state government restricted the number of workers allowed on site, and only permitted research on Covid-19 or research otherwise essential to national security. Operations ran the accelerator “on demand” for the first time...

CERN was at the start of a 2-year long shut-down, scheduled to implement a major upgrade in the LHC injectors complex and to perform consolidation and maintenance on large parts of the LHC, when in March 2019 the Covid pandemic imposed itself. Installation work was adapted to comply to the new Covid related measures put in place and the schedule was shifted because of the lock-down. The...

The ISIS Neutron and Muon Facility in South Oxfordshire UK has recently had to deal with the ongoing Covid 19 global pandemic. The announcement by the Prime Minister of a national lockdown on 20th March 2020 resulted in significant alterations to our User programme and temporary suspension of operations. The ‘new normal’ evolved as ISIS slowly came back online in preparation for the User...

Synchrotron Radiation Sources (SRS) Indus-1 and Indus-2 at RRCAT, Indore (India) are being operated in round-the-clock mode as a national facility. Indus-1 is a 450 MeV, 125 mA electron storage ring emitting radiation from mid-IR to soft x-ray with a critical wavelength of ~ 61 Å. Indus-2 is a 2.5 GeV, 200 mA electron storage ring providing synchrotron radiation emitted from its bending...

ALBA is a third generation 3GeV synchrotron light source near Barcelona (Spain). In operation for users since 2012, there are 8 beamlines in operation, 2 in commissioning and 3 under construction. On March 2021 the Covid-19 pandemic forced Spain to a strict confinement, stopping abruptly the operation of the facility. One month after, we resumed operation with a “light” operation mode;...

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility - Extremely Brilliant Source (ESRF-EBS) is a facility upgrade allowing its scientific users to take advantage of the first high-energy 4th generation light source. In December 2018, after 30 years of operation, the beam stopped for a 12-month shutdown to dismantle the old storage ring and to install the new X-ray source. In December 2019, first beam...

While a large percentage of the BNL population were required to lock-down, NSLS-II remained running, with 3 beamlines running studies on COVID-19 and potential vaccines. For 4 months, we operated in a mode dubbed Min-Safe– having bare minimum number on site for safe operations and study. The effects of no longer being in-person were drastic in nearly every part of operations.

In this talk...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was formally characterized as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. On March 25th first lockdown in Poland was introduced. SOLARIS facility operation for users was cancelled until May 30th, 2020 at that time. The facility had to adjust to the new reality. Wearing masks, disinfection and social distance has become obligatory. To continue the work in those...

Synchrotron SOLEIL is the French third generation synchrotron light source in operation since 2007, providing photon beams to 29 beamlines with a maximum intensity of 500 mA, 5000 hours a year. On March 16, 2020, the activity of the site had to stop because of the national lockdown related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed progressively from May 11, 2020 with a shortened two-week machine...

Just like all workplaces, the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory had to adjust to new workplace regulations during Covid. Being part of a large lab was very beneficial for operations. This talk will discuss how we met social distancing, cleaning, and testing protocols, changed meetings, and used remote tools to keep the accelerator running. Finally, I will discuss...

The European Spallation Source is in the installation and commissioning process, with the plan to deliver the first neutrons in 2024. The installation and commissioning process are taking place during the COVID pandemic, with the subsequent impact both of the delivery of the In-Kind contributions, and in the way of working in the Control Room and Linac Tunel.
At the same time, the Operations...

The Institut Curie– CPO facility consists in one cyclotron delivering a beam of protons for three treatment rooms. The activities of the BTI service are a mix of operations, technical support, maintenances and developments to keep the facility operational from 8h00 to 19h30, 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year with (only 4 fridays off per year). Several evenings and part of week-ends are used...

The Collider-Accelerator Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory was in the midst of run 20 for RHIC when the Covid-19 pandemic struck. After a brief shutdown, the complex was back up and running. This talk covers the software and controls changes and upgrades made to facilitate resuming running, along with those tools we found most useful in maintaining performance and safety. For...

Within LEAPS, the League of European Accelerator based-Photon Sources, the idea of an LEAPS Integrated Platform (LIP) has been developed bringing together the fields of Digital Twinning, Machine Learning and Virtual Diagnostic. This platform should contain digital twins from the accelerator over the photon transport up to the experiments. This does not only allow the experimentalists to get...

Remote operation, teleworking, social distances, are just a few new concepts that have changed the way we are now operating. New policies and procedure upgrades are in place that have had an impact not only on operations but also how maintenance activities and user interface take place. What we experienced and how we have adjusted at Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Photon Source.

Historically, the operation of the Canadian Light Source (CLS) was done by so-called volunteer operators. The group consisted primarily of the accelerator physicists, engineers, and technicians within the Accelerator Operations and Development group. In June of 2019 that changed when the first group of full-time operators started at the CLS. By the time the hiring was done there were 10 new...

Three dimensional beam injection is an one of major technical challenges for new muon g-2/EDM experiment at J-PARC. In order to validate a basic concept of this injection scheme, we have developed a compact beam line which includes electron gun and solenoid magnet for storage 80 keV electron beam. Although, entire beam line length is 2m only, we have three rotating quadruple magnets to apply...

A high-power pulsed modulator was burnt at the accelerating structure assembly room adjacent to the electron positron injector linac building in KEK. It is considered that a capacitor in the pulse forming network was broken and caught fire. The container of the capacitor was plastic material and was filled with insulating oil that are combustible. The fire generated much carbon soot and...

The pandemic has shifted the workforce around the world. With a relatively new operator group at the CLS, our group will present how we dealt with the pandemic right from the start. We will explain our situation involving the facility, working with staff and other important situations that have fallen on us during this time and how we adapted to rapid change that better prepared us for the...

At the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST), carbon-ion therapy has been carried out since 1994, and a total of more than 13,000 patients have been treated to date. Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, all medical facilities are required to have robust measures against infectious diseases. In our facility, operators who work in the medical setting have...

ALBA is a 3 GeV, 3rd generation, synchrotron light source located in Barcelona (Spain), which is operating with users since May 2012. ALBA provides more than 4.000 hours of beam time per year to eight operational beamlines. Additionally, two beamlines are in commissioning and three in construction. The Operator’s group is composed of eight operators and their career profiles are wide ranging....

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, shutdown due to an increase in the number of infected patients among accelerator operators was a concern that needed to be considered, and measures needed to be taken to ensure the safety of accelerator operators and to preserve operational performance.
In HIMAC, the accelerator operators were divided into two groups and isolated from each other in order to...

As the pandemic hit the world we found ourselves in a very different landscape
that nobody was familiar with or prepared for. With the first COVID-19 case in
the country, the way we lived our lives was turned upside down and inside out.
Accelerator operation was no different. Things we took for granted, such as
having at least one operator on site, were no more.
However, with users on the...

A brand-new three-dimensional spiral injection scheme will be used to inject and store muon beams into the solenoid-type storage magnet for the muon g-2/EDM experiment at J-PARC. Since this is the first instance to employ this scheme, therefore a prototype experiment is underway at KEK. The prototype experiment is utilizing an 80 keV electron beam to inject and store into the solenoid magnet...

After the initial response to the COVID pandemic, there was a concentrated response from the lab at multiple levels to restructure where possible in the interest in safety. Because of this response, many new practices were established to ensure smooth operation and safety. The establishment of a task force, reduced staff on site, reduced interaction between those on site, masks, gloves, and...

SOLEIL is the French third generation synchrotron light source in operation since 2007 and providing photon beams to 29 beamlines with a maximum intensity of 500 mA, 5000 hours per year.
For about ten years, the eight operators of the operation group have developed their own programs, first in GlobalSCREEN and then in LabVIEW and python, to ensure their main functions, namely to drive the...