A Risk Based Approach to Improving Beam Availability at an Accelerator Facility

This paper describes a risk-based approach to improving beam availability at an accelerator facility. Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), like many other accelerator facilities, was built many years ago and has been repurposed when new missions were adopted. Many of the upgrades to the accelerator and beamlines allowed partial improvements but large-scale, system-wide improvements were never accomplished. Because of this, the facility operates with a mix of old and new equipment of varying conditions. Limited budgets have constrained spending for spare part procurement making it vital to prioritize those items predicted to have the highest impact to availability, should they fail. A systematic approach is described where equipment is inventoried, condition assessed, rated for potential failure and finally compiled into a risk-based priority list.