Power is ready for the prototype injector
The European Domestic Agency has carried out successful site acceptance tests at the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Neutral Beam Test Facility on power supply equipment installed overhead in the spectacular high voltage deck—a Faraday cage box measuring 12 x 8 x 9 metres.
Standing on eight legs, the high-voltage deck is an electrically insulated box that contains transformers, power distribution systems, converters and control cubicles weighing approximately 50 tonnes for the MITICA* neutral beam injector's ion source. The role of the high voltage deck is to isolate the power supplies of the ion source from the ground.
The European Domestic Agency for ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ, Fusion for Energy, procured both the high voltage deck (through Siemens) and the equipment inside it—the ion source and extraction power supplies (ISEPS) through OCEM Power Electronics. ISEPS consists of eight power supplies and auxiliaries producing 5 MVA in total. Installation was completed in October 2019, but the site acceptance tests initiated early this year had to be postponed due to COVID-19. The final tests took place in September 2020, and were transmitted live to those not able to be present.
*MITICA (for Megavolt ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Injector and Concept Advancement) is a full-size prototype of ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ's 1 MV heating neutral beam injectors. Capable of full acceleration voltage and power, it is scheduled to begin operating in 2022 at the ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ Neutral Beam Test Facility to test all physics and technology issues and validate concepts before the neutral beam system is installed on ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ.
See the full report on the successful tests on Fusion for Energy's .