Recent Progress in the ITER EC H&CD System

M. Henderson⁽¹⁾, C. Darbos⁽¹⁾, F. Albajar⁽²⁾, T. Bigelow⁽³⁾, T. Bonicelli⁽²⁾, R. Chavan⁽⁴⁾, G.G. Denisov⁽⁵⁾, D. Fasel⁽⁴⁾, R. Heidinger⁽⁶⁾, N. Kobayashi⁽⁷⁾, S.L. Rao⁽⁸⁾, D. Rasmussen⁽³⁾, G. Saibene⁽²⁾, K. Sakamoto⁽⁷⁾, K. Takahashi⁽⁷⁾ , M. Thumm⁽⁶⁾, B. Ujjwal⁽⁸⁾

⁽¹⁾ ITER Organization, 13108 St Paul lez Durance, France

⁽²⁾ Fusion for Energy, C/ Josep Pla 2, Torres Diagonal Litoral-B3,E-08019 Barcelona - Spain

⁽³⁾ ITER-US, ORNL, 055 Commerce Park, PO Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6483, USA

⁽⁴⁾ Association EURATOM-Confédération Suisse, EPFL SB CRPP, CH-1015 Lausanne, Suisse

⁽⁵⁾ IAP Russian Academy of Sciences, 46 Ulyanov Street, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950 Russia

⁽⁶⁾ Association EURATOM-FZK, Postfach 3640 D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

⁽⁷⁾ JAEA 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka-shi, Ibaraki 311-0193 Japan

⁽⁸⁾ IPR, Near Indira Bridge, Bhat, Gandhinagar, 382428, India

The Electron Cyclotron system for ITER is an in-kind procurement shared between five parties (EU, IN, JA, RF, US) and consisting of up to 27 gyrotrons (each of 1 to 2 MW), power supplies, transmission lines, one equatorial (EL) and four upper launchers (UL). The total installed power is ≥24 MW for heating and current (H&CD) applications and 3 MW for assisting plasma breakdown. The 24MW H&CD power corresponds to a nominal injected power of 20 MW to the plasma, with a possible upgrade to 40 MW (corresponding to 48 MW installed). This power is directed to the launchers depending on physics application: EL for central heating or current drive in steady state operation and MHD control with the ULs. Several modifications from the baseline design have been proposed during the recent ITER design review, which aim at taking into account technology upgrades, increased functionality, potential cost reductions and improved interfaces. In addition, progress in the integration of all the subsystems delivered by the different parties and the interface management of these sub-systems within the EC system and with the ITER auxiliary systems will be described. Particular attention is given to improving system reliability and availability by risk mitigation and methods in which the system is adaptable to future power and technology upgrades, for example dual frequency (wide bandwidth for components except diamond window) and or high power gyrotrons.

Future Exchanges: A stronger relationship between the ITER Organization (IO) and the Domestic Agencies (DA) is under consideration as a method to limit costs within the IO and better utilize the work force in the DAs. Already much of the design work is accomplished by the DAs and so will the manufacturing activities. This strategy would establish a stronger partnership between the DAs and IO and is encouraged by the ITER council, the IO-DA and various advisory committees as a path forward to reduce cost, while achieving ITER’s primary goals. The EC project has already been moving in this direction, benefiting from the tight community and ongoing collaboration in this field. Steps to further strengthen this collaboration within the international teams working on the ITER EC system will be proposed. This includes collaboration at the working level as well as in the optimization of the design and design review processes.