Scientists celebrate as the collider sets a world record near Geneva. (AFP)

Geneva, Nov. 30 (AP): The world’s largest atom smasher today broke the record for proton acceleration previously held by a US lab, sending beams of the particles at 1.18 trillion electron volts around the massive machine.

The Large Hadron Collider eclipsed the previous high of 0.98 1TeV held by Fermilab, outside Chicago, since 2001, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, also known as Cern, said.

The latest success, which came early in the morning, is part of the preparation to reach even higher levels of energy for significant experiments next year on the make-up of matter and the universe.

It comes on top of a rapid series of operating advances for the $10 billion machine, which underwent extensive repairs and improvements after it collapsed during the opening phase last year. Cern director-general Rolf Heuer said early advances in the machine located in a 27-km tunnel under the Swiss-French border have been “fantastic”.

“However, we are continuing to take it step by step, and there is still a lot to do before we start physics in 2010,” Heuer said. “I’m keeping my champagne on ice until then.”

Ultimately, scientists want to create conditions like those 1 trillionth to 2 trillionths of a second after the Big Bang — which scientists think marked the creation of the universe.

More than 8,000 physicists from labs around the world also have work planned for the Large Hadron Collider. The organisation is run by its 20 European member nations, with support from other countries, including observers from Japan, India, Russia and the US.