CERN

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (known worldwide as CERN) is an international scientific organisation. Its Geneva headquarters are home to the famous Large Hadron Collider and other large particle accelerators.

In 2013, CERN contacted Thorlux Lighting regarding emergency escape lights. Emergency lighting is essential for safety, especially in the extensive underground tunnels that house CERN’s accelerators, but the strong levels of radiation and magnetic fields were destroying the standard emergency luminaires used at the time. This meant a high turnover of replacement luminaires and significant associated costs. CERN wanted a practical, bespoke solution for this issue.

Thorlux Lighting’s in-house UK R&D and manufacturing capability allowed it to respond quickly to CERN's requirements, collaborating to develop power supplies that used radiation-hardened components to minimise failure.

Following the success of the emergency lighting project, CERN came again to Thorlux in 2018 for standard luminaires, leading to a six-month collaboration to develop a radiation hardened version of the Hi-Bar linear luminaire to use in the underground tunnel network. The CERN team provided Thorlux with specific details, helping to streamline the design process. As with all Thorlux custom projects, the successful working partnership was based on communication and collaboration.

As a result of these projects, Thorlux has amassed considerable understanding and knowledge of working with radiation-hardened equipment.

Photography courtesy of CERN.