Emergency vacuum repairs in an aging accelerator: Case studies and lessons learned

Abstract

Jefferson Lab operates the CEBAF electron accelerator at energies to 12 GeV for the Department of Energy Nuclear Physics program. The CEBAF injector beamline was designed and built in the early 1990s. Although we’ve upgraded and replaced many of the vacuum systems, we still have unique original components installed which operate daily. Over the past 3 years, we have had several vacuum leaks in ageing components leading to emergency repairs on a tight timeline. I’ll discuss the nature of these vacuum component failures, the difficulties in repair due to their ages, the lessons we’ve learned, and how we hope to minimize similar failures going forward.