Speaker
Description
At the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) pursues an unprecedented effort to push further the frontiers of physics. Both the accelerator and its four detectors (ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb) collectively form a one-of-a-kind advanced technological system capable of producing and recording the most energetic particle collisions ever achieved under laboratory conditions.
The CERN Radiation Protection group supports the machine’s operational programme by ensuring the highest safety standards in terms of radiological control and dose optimization procedures throughout the entire LHC lifecycle. In particular, a significant effort is put in place for the essential task of assessing residual dose rates for planned exposure situations, such as maintenance and upgrade projects that are recurrently scheduled during shutdown periods of the LHC.
This paper focuses on the advanced Monte Carlo techniques developed at CERN for predicting residual dose rates in the LHC experimental caverns during machine shutdowns, when the detectors change configuration to allow for maintenance, substitution, and subsystems upgrades. The method is applied to the ATLAS detector at LHC, for which residual dose rates for two different shutdown periods (including the upcoming Long Shutdown 3) are evaluated with the FLUKA Monte Carlo code distributed by CERN and compared to experimental measurements already performed in the ATLAS cavern.
