Survey of electronic safety systems in accelerator applications

This paper presents the preliminary results and analysis of a comprehensive survey of the implementation of accelerator safety interlock systems from over 30 international labs. At the present time there is not a self consistent means to evaluate both the experiences and level of protection provided by electronic safety interlock systems. This research is intended to analyze the strength and weaknesses of several different types of interlock system implementation methodologies. Research, medical, and industrial accelerators are compared. Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF) was one of the first large particle accelerators to implement a safety interlock system using programmable logic controllers. Since that time all of the major new US Accelerator construction projects plan to use some form of programmable electronics as part of a safety interlock system in some capacity