This week's issue of the CERN Bulletin reports on the suspected cause of two vacuum leaks discovered in mid-July that have pushed the LHC restart date until at least November. The likely culprit is a flexible hose in the liquid helium transport circuits. The same type of hose caused a vacuum leak in another LHC sector two years ago, which was fixed by replacing the flexible hose with a smaller, solid tube. If the flexible hose is confirmed as the cause of the new leaks, it will be repaired using the same technique.
In other LHC repair news, Science magazine reports today that more bad connections between superconducting magnets may reduce the maximum energy for the LHC's first run, or further delay the restart.
