Status of the ITER ion cyclotron heating and current drive system

The paper reports on latest developments for the ITER Ion Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive system: imminent acceptance tests of a prototype power supply at full power; successful factory acceptance of candidate RF amplifier tubes which will be tested on dedicated facilities; further design integration and experimental validation of transmission line components under 6MW hour-long pulses. The antenna Faraday shield thermal design has been validated above requirements by cyclic high heat flux tests. R&D on ceramic brazing is under way for the RF vacuum windows. The antenna port plug RF design is stable but major evolution of the mechanical design is in preparation to achieve compliance with the load specification, warrant manufacturability and incorporate late interface change requests. The antenna power coupling capability predictions have been strengthened by showing that, if the plasma scrape-off layer turns out to be steep and the edge density low, the reference burning plasma can realistically be displaced to improve the coupling.