HOW ACCELERATOR OPERATIONS DOES BUSINESS AT JEFFERSONLABDavid W Green, Jr., Jefferson Lab 12000 Jefferson Ave, Newport News, VA 23606
ABSTRACTOPERATIONS DATA

The accelerator is staffed 24 hours a day by the MCC
Operations Group. Shift rotations are for seven days onshift, followed by seven days off shift, of which threedays are spent on off-shift activities. Personnel spend
70% of their time on shift and 30% off shift. The off-shift
time is utilized for meetings, training and individual
projects. Individual projects can consist of hardware orsoftwaredevelopment,
training,documentation
development or other areas of interest, depending on theindividual.

Laboratory mission:
Jefferson Lab's mission is to provide forefront scientificfacilities, opportunities and leadership essential for
discovering the fundamental nature of nuclear matter, topartner with industry its advanced technology, and toserve the nation and its communities through educationand public outreach, all with uncompromising excellencein environment, health and safety.

Figure 1: Aerial View of Jefferson Lab

JEFFERSON LAB CONTROL SYSTEMThe Control Systems at Jefferson Lab are based on theExperimental and Industrial Control System (EPICS).
EPICS uses a client/server model and provides
communication between computers distributed around theJefferson Lab site. At Jefferson Lab, EPICS is used forcontrol and monitoring of the Continuous Electron Beam
Accelerator, the experimental halls and the Free Electron
Laser (FEL). The EPICS configuration for the accelerator
utilizes Motorola VME boards as IOCs and HP-UXWorkstations for high level control, data archiving,
retrieval and visualization and operator interfaces in thecontrol room.

Type of accelerator:
Recirculating Linac Machineutilizing Superconducting Electron
Accelerating Technology
Maximum energy (GeV):
5.5
Maximum current (uA):180
Commissioning date:
1994
Number of staff in MCC Operations Group:
21
Type of maintenance program:
Preventative/Opportunistic
Number of Operators per shift:
3 (1 Crew Chief and 2 operators)
Percentage of time Operators operate:
70%
Years of experience for operators:
Total Mean:
3.9
Total Median:
2.8
Crew Chief Mean: 6.9
Crew Chief Median: 7.5
Operator Mean:
Operator Median:

2.3
2.3

A new operator typically has a physics background or US
Navy nuclear power training.

CONTROL ROOM CONFIGURATIONACCELERATOR OPERATIONS
A. HUTTON

MCC
M. SPATA
Figure 3: Machine Operations Consoles
SOURCE
M. POELKER

SOFTWARE
K. WHITE

OPERABILITY
S. SUHRING

Figure 4: Safety System Operator Console

SAFETY SYSTEMS
K. MAHONEY

RF/EE SUPPORT
R. LAUZE
O. GARZAJ. MUSSON
R. NELSON
W. MERZ
Figure 5: Operator Monthly Shift Schedule
RADCONR. MAY

Figure 2: Accelerator Operations Department

An accelerator day begins at 2300 and ends at 2259. This
period is divided into 3 distinct shifts:
Owl Shift (2300 – 0700)
Day Shift (0700 – 1500)
Swing Shift (1500 – 2300)
Each MCC Control Room crew consists of a Crew Chief
and two or three operators.
Shifts for the operators and Crew Chiefs are staggered by
one hour, with the operators starting shift one hour later
than the Crew Chiefs (0000, 0800, 1600).

PROGRAM DEPUTY
The Program Deputy (PD) is a Jefferson Lab staff
member appointed to serve for two-week periods. During
the two-week period, the PD is responsible for theaccelerator program for all shifts. The PD conducts theDaily Summary meeting and communicates with all shifts
on a daily basis.
The Program Deputy (PD) develops a shift plan for eachshift, detailing the program plan, any operating limits,
special test plans and any other pertinent information forthat shift.
The PD develops the Weekly Summary detailing Goals
for the previous and upcoming week. The Weekly
Summary contains details of the performance for theprevious week.

Accelerator Division
Management
Nuclear Physics
Experiment Scheduling
Committee (NPES)Long Range Planning(6-mo. schedule on WWW)

Facility Priorities

PROGRAM
DEPUTY

Experimental Halls –Experiment
Representatives
Short-Term Beam
Requirements

Short-Term
Schedule(2-week period,posted on MCC
white board)

Shift Plan
(detailedprogram foreach8-hour shift)

Crew Chief&Accelerator
Operators

Accelerator
Operability
Accelerator Availability

Figure 6: Inputs to PD planning.
Figure 8: PD Weekly Summary

ELECTRONIC LOGGING
Jefferson Lab utilizes an electronic log for log entries
problem reporting with links to most required informationneeded by operators during beam delivery.

Figure 7: PD Shift Plan

Figure 9: Electronic Log

TRAINING

TROUBLESHOOTING

Jefferson Lab has developed several simulators to allow
operators experience in performing critical machine
operations. The Safety System Simulator is an exampleof this. We place a great emphasis on allowing newer
operators to perform procedures even though a moresenior operator might perform the action more rapidly.
An essential duty of the Crew Chiefs is to provide trainingof the operators. Safety is strongly emphasized during a
new operator’s training.

Coordination and communication between Operations
staff and support personnel are essential to ensure a timely
resolution of any equipment or software issues. Part ofthe training of operators is troubleshooting and analysis toaid support personnel in identifying the source of aproblem.
Our EES Group has developed atroubleshooting flowchart to help ensure problems areinvestigated in an organized fashion and to ensure theproper personnel are contacted.

Figure 10: Safety System Operator Simulator

Figure 11: RF Separation Simulator

Figure 12: Excerpt from EES Troubleshooting Flowchart