Work on acceleration grid power supply kicks off

A kick-off meeting held between F4E and Nidec Asi Sp.A. marks a significant advance in the work of procuring the acceleration grid power supply for the Neutral Beam Injector. The company deals with the design, manufacturing, installation and testing of its lower voltage part, the conversion system (AGPS-CS).

The ITER machine will have two Neutral Beam Injectors which will inject neutral particles into the ITER plasma in order to obtain the temperature and conditions necessary for the fusion reaction to occur. The neutral particles injected come from negative ions created by the Ion Source which are then accelerated in a five stages Acceleration Grids system, with the required voltages and currents being provided by the Acceleration Grid Power Supply (AGPS). “The AGPS is a sign of good collaboration between the ITER Parties. On the basis of the Procurement Arrangement signed with the ITER Organisation, F4E is responsible for supplying its lower voltage part, the conversion system, whereas the Japanese ITER Domestic Agency is responsible for supplying its higher voltage part, the DC generators” says Daniel Gutierrez, F4E’s Technical Officer.

The recently signed contract with Nidec Asi Sp.A. covers the supply of the AGPS-CS of the two ITER Neutral Beam Injectors but also another one for the Neutral Beam Testing Facility (NBTF), in Padua, Italy. The facility, which is currently being built in collaboration with Consorzio RFX, whose staff also directly cooperates with F4E for the execution of the AGPS contract, hosts MITICA (Megavolt ITER Injector and Concept Advancement) which will be the first 1:1 full ITER injector aiming at operating up to the full acceleration voltage of 1 MV and at full power (16.5 MW).

“Nidec Asi Sp.A., a key player in the market of power conversion systems, has showed its commitment to accommodate the challenging requirements of this system. Their vast experience will be very useful for this long-term contract” says Daniel Gutierrez.

The design of the AGPS-CS for MITICA is to be presented by Nidec Asi Sp.A. by the summer of 2016. Following approval by F4E of the design, manufacturing will start and delivery of the first power supply to the NBTF in Padua is expected in the summer of 2017. At the beginning of 2018 the AGPS-CS should be ready to operate. Once it has been checked that the first unit operates correctly and the MITICA AGPS-CS is fully operational, Nidec Asi Sp.A. will start the supply of the two other units for ITER, which