Obtaining X-rays
Interlocking The Experimental Hutch
The X-ray beam may be switched on only after the experimental area, the Hutch, has been made safe. No personnel should be left behind, either accidentally or intentionally. Only one person must complete the search procedure. A series of warnings and safety mechanisms are deployed, and must not be tampered with. Port 10 (P10W.STOP.01) has to be opened for radiation to come down the beamline. Only the crew in the Main Control Room can open Port 10. When the port is open, the station shutters may be opened only after the hutch has been interlocked, allowing the beam to illuminate the optical elements downstream. At this stage beam is actually in the hutch and stopped only by the camera shutter.
The search procedure is activated via the control panel situated to the left of the hutch door and is carried out as follows.
Start Search
Turn the HUTCH OPERATIONAL knob on the panel to the ON position. Use the swipe card that your station scientist has given you to start the search. A bleeping siren will start sounding, to warn personnel in the hutch that it is about to be interlocked.
Experimental Hutch Search
The User should then go inside the hutch, look around for any personnel still inside, press the SEARCH POINT 1 green button (on the same side as the Sample Changer) and then SEARCH POINT 2 green button (on the left of the door when exiting) and vacate the hutch.
NOTE !
It is not sufficient to expect other people, who might be in the hutch,
to hear the siren.
The person searching the hutch MUST ensure no one is left behind.
Complete Search
Once back outside the User should then close the hutch door and push the SEARCH COMPLETE button on the panel to the left making sure the door bolt has engaged in its recess. This procedure should be completed within one minute, otherwise it will have to be restarted. Upon successful completion, the white lights inside the hutch will go off, and the blue warning lights will come on for a period of 20 seconds. When all the interlocks have been verified, the white lights come back on and the Hutch Interlocked light will come on above the door. It is now safe to open the station shutter, X10.STOP.02.
Should anybody be trapped inside the hutch despite all these precautions, the flap on the inside of the door may be pushed, breaking the interlock and making the hutch safe. This will also cause the recess of the latch to fall out outside the hutch, so that the interlock may not be reachieved quickly before people have had the chance to get out. If the person trapped inside is not sufficiently close to the door to open it from inside, one of the yellow rings, situated at many points inside the hutch and marked Emergency Beam Off, may be pushed to CLOSE THE PORT. Obviously, this is a drastic measure, but should be activated if the necessity arises.
Re-entering the Hutch
When the User needs to go back into the hutch, the interlock can be broken by turning the HUTCH OPERATIONAL knob to the left of the door handle to OFF. This will automatically close X10.STOP.02, and release the bolt on the hutch door. Whoever enters the hutch first should check the radiation levels with the geiger counter.
!!Note that this is not backup measure!!
If during monitoring any part of the beamline or hutch, radiation levels exceed 10 times the Derived Working Limit (DWL) marked on the monitor, the safety shutters which isolate that part of the beamline or station must be closed immediately and the Operations Team Leader must remove the station key and inform the Radiation Protection Adviser immediately. The Operations Team Leader must only issue the key to persons authorised by the Radiation Protection Adviser for the purpose of investigating the cause of the high radiation levels. The Port Co-ordinator should also be informed of the circumstances. If during monitoring any part of the beamline or hutch, dose rates below 10 times the DWL marked on the monitor are found, they must be reported to the Operations Team Leader and Radiation Protection Adviser as soon as possible, but there is no requirement to close the station or line immediately. The Port Co-ordinator and the Radiation Protection Adviser should be informed of the circumstances in order that investigations can be carried out at the earliest opportunity (Section 8.2/8.3 of SRS local rules issue 10).
Opening the Station Shutter
Station 10 have a similar method of shutter control to the PX stations (14.1/14.2). The shutter is controlled via a flat screen situated on the control desk of the station.
When booted the PC automatically comes up with 2 windows entitled 'STATION X10.1' and Status and Interlock Monitor'. The 'STATION X10.1' window shows a diagram of the beamline with all the valves, ion pumps, gauges, mirror, slits and mono etc. At the bottom right of this X10.STOP.02 should be highlighted in green. If not, double clicking on this will create the 'Status and Interlock Monitor' window for X10.STOP.02. This shows the status of the shutter at the top and a list of the interlocks etc. below. At the bottom there is a control panel. Here, once the hutch has been interlocked, you should click on Reset and then Open. In addition after every refill you will need to open X10.STOP.01. This is situated towards the top of the diagram of the beamline layout. Double click on the X10.STOP.01 which should create an "Status and Interlock" window for X10.STOP.01. Click on reset followed by open. Sometimes you may also need to open a valve (eg. X10.valve.01) or a screen (eg. X10.screen.01). Double click on it which should create an "Status and Interlock" window. Click on reset followed by open.
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