Experience with the LEP Superconducting RF Accelerating System

CERN is presently upgrading the large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) to higher energy by installing superconducting RF accelerating cavities. For a total installed circumferential voltage of about 2800 MV, 272 cavities operating at 352 MHz will be needed, representing an active length of 462 m and a cold surface of more than 1600 m2. The series production cavities are made out of copper, sputter-coated with a thin layer of niobium and cooled with liquid He to 4.5 K. The cavities are produced by industry and the acceptance testing is done at CERN. In 1996, 176 cavities had been installed and run successfully at their design gradient of 6 MV/m during physics at a beam energy of 86 GeV. As RF power sources 36 klystrons will finally be installed with a nominal RF output power of 1 MW each. In this paper the superconducting accelerating system in LEP will be described and experience gained during operation for physics as well as new developments will be presented.