UK scientists express joy at LHC switch-on

Dr David Sankey is a particle physicist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, a research centre in Oxfordshire. "It's getting real," he said in reaction to Wednesday's successful LHC initiation. Comparing Wednesday's LHC initiation to starting an engine, he said: "This is the turnover, and it went well."

Sankey pointed out how the 20 years of development and preparation that had gone into the LHC continued right up until recently. "This has been a long time coming," he said. "Even last week, people were working in [the CMS detector]. They were working flat out up to this deadline, and it worked."