The HL-LHC project has continued to make impressive progress since the annual meeting in Genoa at the end of 2024. In particular I would like to highlight here the celebrations for the first Beam Screen being completed at CERN, the successful repair of the prototype RFD Crab Cavity cryo-module and its on-time installation in the SPS – which has already delivered its first test results with beam – and the completion of the installation of magnets and the Fully Remote Alignment System (FRAS) in the IT String. These all define critical milestones for the project and are covered in more detail in dedicated contributions in this newsletter.
Figure 1. Group photo from last year's HL-LHC Collaboration Meeting in Genoa, Italy. Florence Thompson / CERN
In terms of production status, it is well worth highlighting the progress of magnet production at CERN, with the completion and successful validation of the MQXFB07 cryo-assembly – an important mid-point production milestone, as it means that half of the MQXFB cryo-assemblies required for installation in the LHC tunnel during Long Shutdown 3 (LS3) are validated. The AUP production of the MQXFA cryo-assemblies is also advancing and is projected to reach their corresponding mid-point production milestone by the first quarter of 2026.
The production of the separation and recombination dipole magnets D1 and D2 is also advancing well, with the four D1 magnets needed for LHC installation in LS3 having been successfully validated in vertical configuration at KEK, and with the four D2 magnets required for completing the installation in LS3 to be completed at INFN and ASG in Genoa by the end of 2025.
The focus at CERN is now on the completion of the IT String installation (with the closure and leak tests of the interconnections presently ongoing) and its cool down, with first powering anticipated by the end of the year.Another main focus is the adjudication of the last civil engineering contract of the project in June for the excavation of the 28 vertical cores that will connect the new underground HL-LHC infrastructure with the existing LHC tunnel.
Crab Cavity production is now in full swing in industry for both cavity types. The assembly of the first cryo-module is ongoing in the UK for the DQW cavities, while the assembly of the first two RFD cavities from AUP into their cryo-module is expected to start at TRIUMF as of the end of 2025.
The project office has already started preparations for this year’s light Cost & Schedule Review (CSR), planned for November 2025, which will focus on the time-critical work packages for the HL-LHC installation work during LS3. This ninth CSR will take place shortly after the Countdown to LS3 review at CERN, scheduled for early September 2025.
Last but not least, the annual Collaboration Meeting for this year is being prepared again as an in-person meeting, this time in Geneva at CERN. The meeting will showcase the completion of the IT String installation and its transition to operation, and will welcome the new incoming management who will oversee the final stretch of the HL-LHC installation and commissoning during LS3.