CERN's LHC to Shut Down for 2 Years for Repair & Upgrades

CERN has revealed that the world's largest and most powerful atom smasher – the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is going into hibernation and will be shut down for a period of two years for upgrade purposes.

Gillies told AFP on Friday that the shutdown will enable engineers to lay superconducting cables in huge numbers thereby bringing the machine up to "full design energy."