Nexans receives two CMS Awards of the year 2002 for its work in superconductivity

The CMS is a massive advanced-technology detector weighing 12,500 tonnes. Resulting from a worldwide collaboration between 1700 physicists in 32 countries, it can identify all the particles produced in the proton-proton collisions at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) installed at the CERN (European Nuclear Research Center), and give a precise measurement of their energy levels.

During the award-giving ceremony held at the CERN in Geneva, Boris Dardel, the Nexans CMS project manager stated "these prizes are an implicit acknowledgement of the quality of our company's work. They highlight the crucial role Nexans played in the CMS project, which has resulted in the world's largest-ever superconducting solenoid magnet". This magnet will surpass all others in size and the quantity of energy stored. Measuring 6 metres in diameter and 13 metres in length, it will create a magnetic induction of 4 teslas, which means that the 2.5 Giga joules of stored energy will be sufficient to melt 18 tonnes of gold.

Nexans has already delivered the bulk of the 50 km of aluminium-sheathed superconducting cables produced in its Swiss manufacturing plant in Cortaillod. The first prototype cable measuring 1000 metres was delivered at the beginning of 2000, and production will reach completion in the course of 2002.