Run 2 prompt dose distribution and evolution at the Large Hadron Collider and implications for future accelerator operation

During the operation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) small fractions of beam particles are lost, creating prompt radiation fields in the accelerator tunnels. Exposed electronics and accelerator components show lifetime degradation and stochastic Single Event Effects (SEEs) which can lead to faults and downtime of the LHC. Close to the experiments the radiation levels scale nicely with the integrated luminosity since the luminosity debris is the major contributor for creating the radiation fields in this area of the LHC. In the collimation regions it was expected that the radiation fields scale with the integrated beam intensities since the beams are continuously cleaned from particles which exceed the accelerator’s acceptance. The analysis of radiation data shows that the dose measurements in the collimation regions normalised with the integrated beam intensities for 2016 and 2017 are comparable. Against expectations, the intensity normalised radiation datasets of 2018 in these regions differ significantly from the previous years. Especially in the betatron collimation region the radiation levels are up to a factor 3 higher. The radiation levels in the collimation regions correlate with the levelling of beta-star and the crossing angle in the high luminosity experiments ATLAS and CMS. These increased normalised doses have direct implications on the expected dose levels during future LHC operation, including the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) upgrade.