Development and Realisation of the ESS Machine Protection Concept

ESS is facing extremely high beam availability requirements and is largely relying on custom made, very specialised, and expensive equipment for its operation. The proton beam power with an average of 5MW per pulse will be unprecedented and its uncontrolled release can lead to serious damage of the delicate equipment, causing long shutdown periods, inducing high financial losses and, as a main point, interfering drastically with international scientific research programs relying on ESS operation. Implementing a fit-for-purpose machine protection concept is one of the key challenges in order to mitigate these risks. The development and realisation of the measures needed to implement such concept to the correct level in case of a complex facility like the ESS, requires a systematic approach, and will be discussed in this paper.