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A lightning bolt struck a main electrical-transmission line to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Thursday night, April 12, shutting down the linear accelerator and causing nearly 1,600 employees to stay home on Friday, a SLAC spokesman has confirmed.
The lightning strike, which came from a storm that caused an estimated 700 strikes in the Bay Area, hit the main power feed at about 11 p.m., Media Manager Andy Freeberg said.
SLAC switched to auxiliary power after the incident, and had only essential personnel on site Friday. There is no danger from the shutdown, he said.
The damaged transmission line is in a remote area of the Santa Cruz Mountains, he said. As of Friday afternoon, Pacific Gas & Electric personnel were looking for the exact outage location. There was no repair-time estimate, and SLAC will bring systems back up slowly when power is reinstated, Freeberg said.
The incident prompted three fire alarms to be activated, and Palo Alto Fire Department personnel responded to SLAC.
PG&E spokesman Joe Molica said the strike was in a rugged, remote area that requires access by helicopter. It is unknown if there is more damage than to just the line.
“Unfortunately, lightning doesn’t just create damage where it strikes; it travels,” he said.
A lightning bolt can carry 1 billion volts of electricity, Molica said. PG&E electrical transmission lines carry between 4,000 and 34,000 volts, he said.
Repair crews “are just slammed” with outage repairs due to the storm. A GIS system developed by PG&E that tracks lightning strikes recorded 162 strikes in San Mateo County alone, he said.
“That is absolutely unprecedented for this time of year,” he added.
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