Large Hadron Collider fires up after $40M repairs

GENEVA — Scientists switched on the world's largest atom smasher Friday night for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago.

The Large Hadron Collider was heavily damaged by a simple electrical fault on Sept. 19, 2008.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, has taken the restart of the collider step by step to avoid further setbacks as it moves toward new scientific experiments — probably starting in January — regarding the makeup of matter and the universe.

Progress on restarting the machine went faster than expected and the first beam started circulating around the machine about 10 p.m., said James Gillies, spokesman for CERN. Two hours later, a beam was sent in the opposite direction to begin the collision of protons.

The Large Hadron Collider, built in a 17-mile circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border, circulated its first beams Sept. 10, 2008.

Just nine days later, a badly soldered electrical splice overheated and damaged massive superconducting magnets. CERN has spent $40 million on repairs and improvements on the machine.