Microprocessor-based neutron counter for DIII-D

The operating environment for the DIII-D tokamak places requirements on health safety neutron monitoring which differ from previous health safety monitoring used on Doublet III. The original method monitored the neutrons generated during a tokamak shot but did not continue monitoring neutrons between shots. The new operating environment requires monitoring to include neutrons generated during tokamak shots and neutrons generated during neutral beam conditioning. The system is described in terms of the hardware configuration and the software methods used collecting, managing, and displaying the data. Included in the description are the justifications and trade-offs on selecting the exact hardware and software used. Second, the problems encountered in implementation due to non-compatible hardware and software are covered. This discussion focuses on problems which are difficult to anticipate without direct experience with the exact hardware and software configuration. Guidelines which can be used to prevent some of the compatibility problems that can occur are discussed