SAFE LHC BEAM COMMISSIONING

Due to the large amount of energy stored in magnets and beams, safe operation of the LHC is essential. The commissioning of the LHC machine protection system will be an integral part of the general LHC commissioning program. A brief overview of the LHC Machine Protection System will be given, identifying the main components: the Beam Interlock System, the Beam Dumping System, the Collimation System, the Beam Loss Monitoring System and the Quench Protection System. An outline is given of the commissioning strategy of these systems during the different commissioning phases of the LHC: without beam, injection and the different phases with stored beam depending on beam intensity and energy.