Scheduling the powering tests

The Large Hadron Collider is now entering in its final phase before receiving beam, and the activities at CERN between 2007 and 2008 have shifted from installation work to the commissioning of the technical systems ("hardware commissioning"). Due to the unprecedented complexity of this machine, all the systems are or will be tested as far as possible before the cool-down starts. Systems are firstly tested individually before being globally tested together. The architecture of LHC, which is partitioned into eight cryogenically and electrically independent sectors, allows the commissioning on a sector by sector basis. When a sector reaches nominal cryogenic conditions, commissioning of the magnet powering system to nominal current for all magnets can be performed. This paper briefly describes the different activities to be performed during the powering tests of the superconducting magnet system and presents the scheduling issues raised by co-activities as well as the management of resources.