Radiation protection activities around the CERN accelerators

In 1997 the physics programme of the SPS and LEP was seriously affected by a fire in one of the surface building of the SPS; the incident caused a delay in the LEP start-up, an interruption of several weeks in the SPS fixed-target programme, and the cancellation of the lead ion run for 1997. The consequences for the experiments were, nevertheless, kept to a minimum thanks to the excellent performance of the accelerators. The neutrino experiments even accumulated a record intensity. Experiments at the ISOLDE facility benefited from 315 shifts instead of 200 as originally scheduled, and new experiments started measuring the properties of unstable elements which play a crucial role in the stars. LEP also reached record energy and luminosity in 1997. Measurements of synchrotron radiation in the LEP tunnel were repeated at the new energy value of 92 GeV, to comply with the demands of the INB procedure. Following the end of operation of ACOL and LEAR in December 1996, decommissioning of the Antiproton Accumulator and transformation of the Antiproton Collector into the Antiproton Decelerator started. Experiments in the South Hall were dismantled during the year and the hall will be used partly as a storage area for radioactive components and partly as a test area