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It was a only a matter of time before it happened. But then, it's always a matter of time. No one even noticed that anything out of the ordinary had happened. The scale of the accident was far too small to be even a blip on anyone's monitor. Normal operations continued uninterrupted. But something fantastic has occurred. No logical explanation exists. The best understanding we can hope for is an accounting of the events. On the morning of December 8th, 1993, this is what occurred.
The network that connects the systems provides two important functions. It allows the setup activity to be conducted from a single physical point and it acts as the communications medium between actuators and monitors during each accelerator run. Furthermore, the monitors use the network's second level segments to ship huge amounts of information to the database machine for subsequent analyses. This process control design is not that much different than those used in an ordinary automated manufacturing environment. That is, except for one major design factor shared by the Los Picos Laboratory with other accelerator facilities -- electro-magnetic field shielding. The acceleration of sub-atomic particles to extremely high speeds depends upon the use of high powered magnetic fields. The fields are used to guide and propel the particles in circular or linear patterns. These fields and their high frequency fluctuations are simply not compatible with the standard design characteristics of network electronics and wire media. In order to counter these effects, extreme shielding must be incorporated into the network design and that shielding must be absolute.
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