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Hadron collider ready for lengthy run

CERN is set to run its giant particle collider for 18 to 24 months at a modest power level as it continues to check out the machinery.

David Meyer Special to CNET News.com
The LHC's Compact Muon Solenoid detector.
The LHC's Compact Muon Solenoid detector. Maximilien Brice for CERN

The Large Hadron Collider is about to enter its longest continuous operational period, in preparation for full-strength particle-smashing.

On Wednesday, Steve Myers, the LHC's director for accelerators and technology, blogged that CERN had decided last week to run the giant particle collider for 18 to 24 months at a collision energy of seven tera-electron-volts (TeV)--or 3.5 TeV per beam--with the powering-up phase starting later this month.

After that, the LHC will "go into a long shutdown in which we'll do all the necessary work to allow us to reach the LHC's design collision energy of 14 TeV for the next run," Myers wrote.

Read more of "LHC to run for longest continuous period" at ZDNet UK.