While the HL-LHC era for proton collisions starts in 2029 with the operational Run 4, the aim is to achieve the target HL heavy-ion performance already in Run 3 following the upgrade of the ALICE experiment during LS2.

One important upgrade for HL-LHC is the installation of new collimators, called TCLD, in the dispersion suppressors next to IR7 and IR2. The TCLDs are needed for proton and heavy-ion operation to intercept particles that differ from the main beam.

Crystal collimation was successfully integrated in the WP5 upgrade baseline as an in-kind item to mitigate schedule issues with the 11 T dipoles which have shown potential reliability issues for long-term operation in the accelerator