Speaker
Description
LoKI, a small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instrument, is one of the first instruments to come online at the European Spallation Source (ESS). The instrument recently passed Toll-Gate 5 (TG5), a major milestone marking the completion of the instrument System Acceptance Review (SAR) and Safety Readiness Review (iSRR). This milestone represents LoKI’s transition from construction and cold commissioning toward operation.
Since achieving TG5 in early 2026, significant effort has been focused on preparing LoKI for operations through continued instrument commissioning, system upgrades, automation development, and establishment of operational processes. This contribution highlights recent activities undertaken to support operational readiness, including completion of the detector upgrade project, commissioning of sample environment systems, validation of data acquisition and processing pipelines, and development of standardized measurement and maintenance scripts.
In addition to technical commissioning activities, preparation for operations has included the development of operation and maintenance procedures, shutdown and startup sequences, maintenance tracking strategies, spare parts management, and improvements to supporting infrastructure such as sample storage and operational documentation.
This talk provides an overview of the recent activities undertaken to prepare LoKI for reliable user operation and presents the planned work for the remainder of the year in preparation for Beam on Target (BoT).
Key Words
LoKI
ESS
SANS
Commissioning
Operations Readiness
Controls
Automation
Detectors
Maintenance