Large Hadron Collider Shut Down Until------------------- 080923-hadron-collider_big
Full-power operation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) won't happen until early spring 2009, after an electrical glitch sparked a large helium leak inside the machine's tunnels.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) won't be restarted until late 2009 because repairs to an electrical glitch that occurred last fall are taking longer than expected.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which operates the machine, had initially said the soonest the LHC could resume operations was the spring of 2009. That deadline was later revised to July 2009.

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Yesterday CERN confirmed that the first beams of particles will be sent at the end of September, followed by the first collisions in late October.After a brief winter shutdown, the LHC will start running its planned experiments next year, generating data until the fall of 2010.CERN officials cite upgrades to safety protocols and issues scheduling helium transport for the extra delay.Meanwhile, inspections have turned up two more faulty electrical connections like the one that caused last year's accident, although those repairs are not a factor in the delay, said CERN spokesperson James Gillies."We can do these repairs in the shadow of other ongoing work," Gillies said. More at; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080923-hadron-collider.html