Negative Ion Based Heating and Diagnostic Neutral Beams for ITER

To meet the requirements of the four operating and one start-up scenarios foreseen in the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) a flexible heating mix will be required, which has to include a reliable contribution from neutral beams. The current baseline of ITER foresees 2 Heating Neutral Beam (HNB) systems based on negative ion technology, each operating at 1 MeV 40 A D- ions, and each capable of delivering up to 16.7 MW of D deg. to the ITER plasma. A 3rd HNB injector is foreseen as an upgrade option. In addition a dedicated Diagnostic Neutral Beam (DNB) injecting 100 keV 60 A of negative hydrogen ions will be available for charge exchange resonant spectroscopy (CXRS). The significant R and D effort necessary to meet the design requirements will be provided in the Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF), which is to be constructed in Padua, Italy. This paper gives an overview of the current status of the neutral beam (NB) systems and the chosen configuration. The ongoing integration effort into the ITER plant is highlighted and open interface issues are identified. It is shown how installation and maintenance logistics has influenced the design. ITER operating scenarios are briefly discussed, including start-up and commissioning. For example it is now envisaged to have a low current hydrogen phase of ITER operations, essentially for commissioning of the many auxiliary systems used on ITER. The low current limits the achievable plasma density, and hence the NB energy due to shine through limitations. Therefore a possible reconfiguration of the auxiliary heating systems is now being discussed. Other NB related issues identified by the ongoing design review process are emphasized and possible impact on the implementations of the HNB and DNB systems is indicated