CERN announced on Thursday that it had shut down the collider a week ago after a successful start-up that had beams of protons circling in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions in the collider.
It was at first thought the failure of an electrical transformer that handles part of the cooling was the problem, CERN said. That transformer was replaced last weekend and the machine was lowered back to operating temperature to prepare for a resumption of operations.
But later it turned out to be a much serious problem. A faulty electrical connection between two magnets that stopped superconducting, melted and led to a mechanical failure and let the helium out and this will keep it out of commission for at least two months.
It was at first thought the failure of an electrical transformer that handles part of the cooling was the problem, CERN said. That transformer was replaced last weekend and the machine was lowered back to operating temperature to prepare for a resumption of operations.
But later it turned out to be a much serious problem. A faulty electrical connection between two magnets that stopped superconducting, melted and led to a mechanical failure and let the helium out and this will keep it out of commission for at least two months.
