🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <8400007@trsvax>, pauls@trsvax.tandy.com says:

> AnotherSSC question:

People at FNAL and SSC can answer better, but here's some of the answer.

> 1) How many magnets are used?

About 10,000 dipole magnets.  I think there are also about 5000 others
(quadrupoles, etc).

> 2) In relative terms, how do they compare to other magnets in use today?

I *think* that they only extend previous magnet technology in their size.
The big issue in SSC magnet design has been field uniformity, but I don't
really know the present status.

> 3) What is MBTF of a magnet today (FermiLab)?

Don't know.  I think about 1/month (FNAL has 1000 superconducting magnets).

> 4) How many 'up days' (up hours??) does the average collider have today?

The rule of thumb is to assume 30% operating efficiency.  This is supposed
to accounts for all data loss, whether the accelerator's or experimenter's
fault. I don't know what recent FNAL experience has been, but at CERN (LEP)
it seems to work OK.

> 5) If a SSC magnet goes fubar, is the whole thing down?

If a ring magnet goes down, the accelerator is down for the few hours it
takes to replace it.