Improvement of the protection devices for JT-60U LHRF antenna system

In the experiments featuring lower hybrid range of frequency (LHRF) system in JT-60U, carbon grills were attached to the plasma-facing part of the antenna in order to avoid the damage by the excessive heat load from the plasma. However some electric discharge traces were found there in the observation after the experiments. To avoid such discharges, improvements of the arc detector and the protection interlock by visible picture detection were tackled. In the arc detector, the amplification circuit was improved in order to obtain shorter response time and higher resolution of optical detection. Moreover, in visible picture detection, a new function of RF-on/off control utilizing PC image processing was added to distinguish the light of the arc from one of the plasma. This report summarizes improvement of the protection interlock device in a LHRF heating system. (author)