The SPS Beam Dump Facility

The proposed SPS beam dump facility (BDF) is a fixed-target facility foreseen to be situated at the North Area of the SPS. Beam dump in this context implies a target aimed at absorbing the majority of incident protons and containing most of the cascade generated by the primary beam interaction. The aim is a general purpose fixed target facility, which in the initial phase is aimed at the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) experiment. Feasibility studies are ongoing at CERN to address the key challenges of the facility. These challenges include: slow resonant extraction from the SPS; a target that has the two-fold objective of producing charged mesons as well as stopping the primary proton beam; and radiation protection considerations related to primary proton beam with a power of around 355 kW. The aim of the project is to complete the key technical feasibility studies in time for the European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP) update foreseen in 2020. This is in conjunction with the recommendation by the CERN Research Board to the SHiP experiment to prepare a comprehensive design study as input to the ESPP.