Maintenance schemes for the ITER neutral beam test facility

Abstract: The ITER neutral beam test facility (NBTF) is planned to be built, after the approval of the ITER construction and the choice of the ITER site, with the agreement of the ITER international team and of the JA and RF participant teams. The key purpose is to progressively increase the performance of the first ITER injector and to demonstrate its reliability at the maximum operation parameters: power delivered to the plasma 16.5MW, beam energy 1MeV, accelerated D− ion current 40A, pulse length 3600s. Several interventions for possible modifications and for maintenance are expected during the early operation of the ITER injector in order to optimise the beam generation, aiming and steering. The maintenance scheme and the related design solutions are therefore a very important aspect to be considered for the NBTF design. The paper describes consistently the many interrelated aspects of the design, such as the optimisation of the vessel and cryopump geometry, in order to get a better maintenance flexibility, an easier man access and a larger access for diagnostic and monitoring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]