Atom smasher restarted

2010-02-28 20:20

Geneva - Operators of the world's largest atom smasher say they have restarted their massive machine near Geneva in a preparation for experiments probing secrets of the universe.

Spokesperson Christine Sutton says low energy beams of protons were sent in both directions around the 27km tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider.

Sutton said on Sunday the European Organisation for Nuclear Research plans a cautious trial period of two to four weeks on the machine under the Swiss-French border.

Then it plans to ramp up the energy of the beams to unprecedented levels and start record-setting collisions of protons by late March.

During a winter shutdown scientists made improvements and checked out the LHC's ability to operate at higher energy.

- AP