A SAFETY SYSTEM FOR PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT PROTECTION AT THE AGS AND RHIC

Brookhaven's Booster and AGS accelerators will soon be operating in a mode whereby different particle species and intensities are alternately accelerated within the same machine during different machine cycles. This will allow the AGS to feed the experimental program and act as a RHIC injector when needed. Along with this great flexibility comes the burden of ensuring the safety of AGS and RHIC personnel and equipment by preventing the inadvertent acceleration of high intensity beam during a period intended for low intensity beam. The Co-injection monitoring system, under development now at BNL, will meet this need. This safety system will sense the intensity of the beam by integrating the beam current signal from a transformer and trip off the accelerator if the intensity exceeds a preset level. The system is dual redundant and contains self-test circuitry to ensure its functionality. This paper describes the Co-injection system. Where available, results of the initial operation will be presented.