LANL, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
This paper describes a risk-based approach to improving beam availability at an accelerator facility. Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), like many other accelerator facilities, was built many years ago and has been re-purposed when new missions were adopted. Many of the upgrades to the accelerator and beamlines allowed improvements in the general area of the upgrade but large-scale, system-wide improvements were never accomplished. Because of this, the facility operates with a mix of old and new equipment of varying condition. Limited budgets have constrained spending for spares procurement making it vital to prioritize those items predicted to have the highest impact to availability, should they fail. A systematic approach is described where equipment is inventoried, condition assessed, rated for potential failure and finally compiled into a risk-based priority list.
