Outage at CERN caused by weasel chewing through transformer
Switzerland, Geneva: CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) came to standstill after a small weasel gnawed through a 66 kV transformer inside an electrical facility outside the main building, causing a wide power outage around CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and shutting down the 27-km long particle smasher on Friday morning.
Switzerland, Geneva: CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) came to a standstill after a small weasel gnawed through a 66 kV transformer inside an electrical facility outside the main building, causing a wide power outage and shutting down the 27-km long particle smasher on Friday morning.
As the animal entered the transformer, it damaged transformer connections causing short circuit, but no damage was made to the machines.
The repairs will take a few days and LHC is expected to start smashing particles again in mid-May.
This is not the first incident of this sort to occur at LHC, as a similar power cut took place in 2009, when a bird dropped a piece of baguette on a substation.
Source: NH Voice
#CERN#Geneva#Hadron#LHC#power#standstill#Switzerland#transformer #transformer#weasel