Overview on the Design of the Machine Protection System for ESS

Scope of the Machine Protection System (MPS) for the European Spallation Source (ESS) is to protect equipment located in the accelerator, target station, neutron instruments and conventional facilities, from damage induced by beam losses or malfunctioning equipment. The MPS design function is to inhibit beam production within a few microseconds for the fastest failures at a safety integrity level of SIL2 according to the IEC61508 standard. These requirements result from a hazard and risk analysis being performed for the all systems at ESS. In a next step the architecture and topology of the distributed machine interlock system has been developed and will be presented. At the same time as MPS seeks to protect equipment it must protect the beam by avoiding triggering false stops of beam production, leading to unnecessary downtime of the ESS facility.