Keeping an eye on the LHC

Access management at CERN has been revamped, with new optical recognition access control systems for the LHC, new electronic chip access cards and a new Cards Service in Building 55.


The new biometric access control system resembles a big electronic eye. It will be used to control access to the LHC from 2007 onwards.

James Bond had better watch out. What was confined to the realms of the film world up to now is set to become reality at CERN. The new LHC access control systems will soon be using the latest technology: optical recognition based on iris image data. In order to gain access to the tunnel it will be your eye, not your credentials that you'll be required to show! As of September, the entrance point at Point 8 should be the first to be fitted out with iris recognition equipment. The other access shafts will then gradually be equipped one by one.

Iris scanning is acknowledged to be one of the most reliable recognition systems but it was chosen especially for its hands-free and low maintenance features. 'There are currently 28,000 tunnel access requests every week', explains Gregory Smith, who is in charge of the installation of new access control systems. 'With this amount of traffic, we would have had to be constantly cleaning the sensors if we had chosen a fingerprint system'.

Obtaining access takes a matter of seconds. 'The advantage of biometrics is that it allows the identity of the person wearing the badge to be authenticated', explains Rui Nunes, who is in charge of access systems. Before showing your eye to the system, you have to present your badge to open the entrance vestibule. You then put your eye in front of a kind of electronic 'Cyclops' twenty centimetres from its pupil, which is marked by a red circle. It is not even necessary to remove your glasses as the system takes them into account. Contrary to what happens in the films, the eye is not 'scanned' by a beam of light. When you identify yourself, the machine simply takes a photo, then the image is converted into code by means of an algorithm, much in the same way as a bar code works. If the code corresponds to the one already stored in the system, the door opens. If not, you have no choice but to turn back. These new systems are due to start operation in 2007.



New chip cards

This is the first time that biometrics have been used for access control purposes at CERN but this is not the only innovation. New electronic chip cards bearing more information and easier to use than their predecessors will gradually be introduced. By simply passing them in front of the card reader you will be able to open the door without even removing them from their cover. The CERN Control Centre (CCC) on the Prévessin site is already fitted out with an access system using this type of card. The dosimeters are to be equipped with similar electronic chips and will thus also serve as access cards. They will be used at the LHC initially, but the principle will subsequently be extended to the other CERN accelerators.

The new CERN card features a host of technologies. It still has a magnetic strip but is also equipped with an electronic RFID (RadioFrequency IDentification) chip. 'The magnetic strip on CERN cards will soon be a thing of the past', says Rui Nunes. Thanks to the chips, there will no longer be any need for contact between the card and the reader, which will avoid wear and tear. It will also extend the lifetime of the cards, which are currently valid for 5 years after their issue date.

It is important to remember that carrying a card does not mean that you have access to all parts of the CERN site. To obtain access to specific areas, the relevant authorisations must be applied for via EDH and safety courses must be validated.

The card readers at the access points to the various CERN sites will be gradually replaced, as will users' cards as and when necessary. As of 1st September, persons working at Points 7 and 8 will be issued with new access cards at the Points in question. To find out if your card uses the new technology, all you need to do is check whether it bears a small capital 'M' on the front.

To facilitate the implementation of all these innovations, Building 55 has been refurbished and will re-open its doors at the beginning of September after 3 months of work. Housing all access and safety services under one roof from September onwards, it will later include a new helpdesk service providing users with the necessary support.


The card, which contains many different pieces of information, will become increasingly necessary in everyday life. As well as allowing access, it will be used in the library and, in the future, thanks to a second chip that is currently optional and undergoing testing, for connecting up to computers. One day it could even be used to pay for food and drinks in the restaurant as the technology featured would allow this. But a card that can actually make coffee seems a rather more remote possibility!

Did you know?

Biometrics makes use of certain physical characteristics that differ from one person to another for the purpose of identification. Many different kinds of techniques can be used but fingerprints and facial or iris recognition are the most common.

Each person has their own unique pattern of microchannels in the irises of their eyes. This pattern is independent of DNA so that twins have different irises. It is even different from one eye to the other in the same individual.