Implications and Mitigation of Radiation Effects on the CERN SPS Operation during 2021

During the Long Shutdown 2 (LS2, 2019-2020), the CERN accelerator complex has undergone major upgrades, mainly in preparation for the High-Luminosity (HL) LHC era, the ultimate capacity for its physics production. Therefore, several novel equipment and systems were designed and deployed throughout the accelerator complex. To comply with the radiation level specifications and avoid machine downtime due to radiation effects, the electronics systems exposed to radiation need to follow Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) methodologies developed and validated by the Radiation to Electronics (R2E) project at CERN. However, the establishment of such procedures is not yet fully implemented in the LHC injector chain, and some R2E failures were detected in the SPS during the 2021 operation. This work is devoted to describing and analysing the R2E failures and their impact on operation, in the context of the related radiation levels and equipment sensitivity.