REVIEW OF THE EUROPEAN PROGRAMME FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GYROTRON FOR ITER
The EU programme for the development of the gyrotron for ITER, carried out in cooperation between European laboratories and industrial partners, consists of (i) the manufacturing and testing the 2 MW, CW coaxial cavity gyrotron at 170 GHz meeting both technological constraints and ITER specifications. This goal will be conducted in three different steps: 1 s, 60 s and CW; (ii) in parallel, the development and improvement of critical components for the coaxial concept will continue. While the coaxial concept provides substantial advantages in terms of cost and EC power available for the ITER system with respect to the 1 MW cylindrical cavity gyrotron, the development programme entails additional risks due to both the relatively tight schedule and the developments still required. A fall back option consisting in a more traditional 1 MW gyrotron is foreseen in case of major difficulties in the development of the 2 MW coaxial cavity gyrotron. This alternative development is expected to benefit from the successful development of the 140 GHz gyrotron for W7-X; (iii) a Test Facility for testing at high power, CW the prototype gyrotrons and other EC H&CD system components has been established at the CRPP, in Lausanne. The tests with the first prototype of coaxial gyrotron are currently progressing. A decision point between the coaxial and cylindrical cavity concept is expected by the end of 2009 when the tests with the first and refurbished prototype will be available.
