LHC Beam Energy in 2012

The interconnections between the LHC main magnets are made of soldered joints (splices) of two superconducting cables stabilized by a copper bus bar. The measurements performed in 2009 in the whole machine, in particular in sector 3-4 during the repair after the 2008 accident, demonstrated that there is a significant fraction of defective copper bus bar joints in the machine. In this paper, the limiting factors for operating the LHC at higher energies with defective 13 kA bus bar joints are briefly reviewed. The experience gained during the 2011 run, including the quench statistics and dedicated quench propagation tests impacting on maximum safe energy are presented. The impact of the by-pass diode contact resistance issue is also addressed. Finally, a proposal for running at the highest possible safe energy compatible with the pre-defined risk level is presented