  This paper begins with a summary of the status of the Large Hadron Collider
at CERN, including the lead-ion injector chain and the plans for the first
phases of commissioning and operation with colliding proton beams. In a later
phase, the LHC will collide lead nuclei at centre-of-mass energies of 5.5 TeV
per colliding nucleon pair. This leap to 28 times beyond what is presently
accessible will open up a new regime, not only in the experimental study of
nuclear matter, but also in the beam physics of hadron colliders.
Ultraperipheral and hadronic interactions of highly-charged beam nuclei will
cause beam losses that dominate the luminosity decay and may quench
superconducting magnets, setting upper limits on luminosity and stored beam
current. Lower limits are set by beam instrumentation. On the other hand,
coherent radiation by the nuclear charges should provide natural cooling to
overcome intra-beam scattering. As with protons, a flexible, staged approach to
full performance will test the limits and make optimal use of scheduled beam
time.
