Testing of the LHC Magnets in Cryogenic Conditions: Current Experience and Near Future Outlook

For the Large Hadron Collider under construction at CERN, a necessary and primordial condition prior to its installation is that all the main twin-aperture dipole and quadrupole magnets are tested in the 1.9 K cryogenic conditions. These tests are not feasible at the manufacturers and hence, are carried out at CERN at a purpose built facility on the site. This presentation will give an overall view of the issues related to the operation of the test facility. In particular, it will give the goals that need to be met to ensure the magnet integrity and performance and the context & constraints on the test programme. Results accumulated from the tested magnets and the ensuing tests stream-lining will be presented, together with some explanations and hard limits. Finally, some improvements planned for efficient operation will be given within the confines of the testing programme as was foreseen and the project goals and deadlines.