A /sup 252/Cf neutron irradiator for testing electronic components for the Large Hadron Collider

The radiation levels inside the experiments at the LHC will be very high. To ensure that all the electronics components used in the detectors will survive for the life the experiments, they will all be thoroughly tested for radiation hardness with neutrons and gammas. The CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter has a dedicated neutron irradiator at the University of Minnesota to perform neutron irradiation of all electronic components that will be mounted on the detector. The irradiator uses 11.5 mg of /sup 252/Cf for the source, with a neutron flux of /spl ap/ 9.5 /spl times/ 10/sup 13/ neutrons/h. In this paper the design, construction, and operations of the Californium Neutron Irradiator will be described.