The CHARM facility's operations have been successfully restarted

CHARM (CERN High energy AcceleRator Mixed field) is a unique radiation test facility located in the EAST Area. It allows simple electronic components tests and bulky system-level tests for accelerator equipment. The facility offers an extensive range of radiation types and energies emulating various mixed-field radiation environments, which are easily changeable due to the CHARM versatile design. Different test configurations can be selected by altering the target material, using mobile shielding or selecting different test locations.

The facility was reactivated in March, and it received the first 24 GeV/c proton beam extracted from the PS on the 28th of March. The BE-CEM-EPR with the MRO support commissioned the facility by assuring that all systems and components were completely installed, tested, operated, and maintained in accordance with the future user's operational needs. On April 6, the facility welcomed the first 2022 users from TE-MPE.

CHARM facility
The CHARM facility (Image: CERN).
CHARM facility
The installations at the CHARM facility (Image: CERN).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year's proton run will be a long one, with over 30 slots dedicated to users. Five users from the ATS department (TE-MPE, SY-EPC, SY-STI, BE-CEM) have had or are having the opportunity to test their systems in the CHARM facility. Additionally, CHARM facility will provide the opportunity to perform high-energy heavy ions tests. The two weeks at the end of the year will be committed to the extraction of the ion beam as part of the CHIMERA project.