The New PLC based Radiation Safety Interlock System at S-DALINAC

The Superconducting Darmstadt Linear Electron Accelerator S-DALINAC has been running since 1991. It consists of an injector linac, a main linac with two recirculations and is mainly used for in-house nuclear physics experiments as well as accelerator physics and technology. Radiation safety regulations demand an interlock system during operation of the accelerator. Amongst other major projects increasing the versatility and operation stability of the S-DALINAC, the existing, hardware based, interlock system is going to be replaced in the next shutdown period. The new interlock system is based on a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and will provide two subsystems, a personnel interlock system as well as a machine safety interlock system. Whereas the first subsystem is to protect staff and visitors from being harmed by ionizing radiation, the latter subsystem prohibits the S-DALINAC beam transport and vacuum elements from being damaged due to malfunctioning of any components during accelerator operation. This contribution will give an overview on this new system and will show the latest status.