Category: Newsline 2014

First plasma and ion beam extraction

First plasma and ion beam extraction have been achieved at the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator

The IFMIF/ EVEDA team of colleagues behind this very important milestone

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is one of the projects stemming from the Broader Approach Agreement, a partnership in fusion energy research between Europe and Japan. IFMIF is an accelerator-based neutron source that produces, using deuterium-lithium nuclear reactions, a large neutron flux similar to that expected at the first wall of a fusion reactor.
Two important milestones have recently been achieved at the Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator (LIPAc): the accomplishment of the first hydrogen plasma in the ionisation chamber and the first extraction of an ion beam (H+).
In the case of LIPAC, the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been responsible for the procurement of the conventional systems, such as the accelerator building, the secondary cooling system, and the machine and personnel protection system. Europe’s contribution, coordinated by Fusion for Energy (F4E), has been delivered by the European countries voluntarily contributing to the BA. The LIPAC injector has been developed and manufactured by France’s Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) Saclay. It has been successfully installed in Rokkasho, Japan,  and is now under commissioning.
The achievement of the first plasma and beam extraction has been an important achievement for the LIPAc team, including participating experts from France’s CEA, led by Raphael Gobin. After the accomplishment of the widely anticipated first plasma, extensively reported in Japanese media, within only two days, further commissioning allowed a proton beam of 100 keV and 100 mA to be obtained. The prospects are now excellent to reach the target of extracting a current of 140 mA of 100 keV D+ ions in the forthcoming commissioning phase with deuterium.

Low Energy Beam Transfer installed in Rokkasho

5th LIPAc Technical Meeting

Legnaro, Italy, 3-5 June 2014

news190614-1l
LTM-05 Participants (group photo)

The 5th LIPAc Technical Meeting (LTM05) was held at Legnaro (PD)-LNL (Italy) from 3rd to 5th June 2014.

From 3rd to 5th June more than 40 participants coming from CEA (Saclay, France), INFN (Legnaro, Italy), JAEA (Rokkasho, Japan), CIEMAT (Madrid, Spain), F4E (Garching, Germany) and PT of IFMIF/EVEDA involved in the design, the manufacturing, the installation and the commissioning of LIPAc (Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator), met in Legnaro during our 5th LIPAc Technical Meeting.

news190614-3l
Coupler under test

The status of the different components was presented. An important progress has been shown as well as important achievements reached:

  • The construction progress at Rokkasho site, with the injector installation ready for check-out and the first phase of the commissioning
  • The successful high power tests on the RFQ couplers developed by LNL, which reached a RF power above the initially specified 200 kW
  • The RF power system and its readiness for factory performance test at INDRA (Spain)
  • The MEBT components integration will be completed within January 2015.
  • The LPBD, which final design report was recently approved, will be delivered in August 2014.
  • The SRF Linac design and manufacturing are ongoing under the supervision of a dedicated working group.
  • Two couplers tip modules and aluminum coupling cavity will be ready on September 2014.
  • D-Plate will be completely assembled by November 2014 and ready for shipment by the end of 2015.
  • The HEBT and Beam Dump main components have been completely designed; technical specifications are almost fully prepared and several manufacturing contracts have been launched.
  • IMS (Interface Management System) was explained in details and emphasized its importance for the project.
  • The Central Control System – MPS – PPS & Diagnostics was properly addressed and the need of an important coordinated work among all stakeholders was agreed.

 

news190614-4l
RFQ super module ready for power test

During the meeting a dedicated session was devoted to the visit of the RFQ test bench set-up for the high power tests which have to be performed on last 3 module of the high flux Super module planned in the forthcoming weeks. During the visit we get the chance to see the clean room for the module assembly as well as the RFQ full size aluminum mock-up used to experiment the tuning of the cavity during the bead pull measurement.

Within the forthcoming months, it was clearly highlighted that the components needed for the 2nd phase of the commissioning will arrive like a “tsunami” at Rokkasho. A lot of integration activities will have to be performed within our tight schedule.

The next LTM06 is planned from 26 to 28 November 2014 in Rokkasho (Japan)

Visit to Noheji shrine

A key milestone related with the LIPAc Installation and Commissioning activities, that are going on in Rokkasho, took place on Tuesday 14 October. The project management from JAEA, F4E and PT went together to Hachimangu Shintoist Shrine in Noheji to pray for the success of LIPAc. Each of us made an offer to the Gods asking for their divine support to our project. Our actions were blessed with wind and rain from the strong typhoon that was passing over Japan those days.

Project management from JAEA, F4E and PT at the Hachimangu Temple in Noheji
Project management from JAEA, F4E and PT at the Hachimangu Shrine in Noheji

From left to right: M. Sugimoto, K. Shoji, S. O’hira, K. Ushigusa, J. Knaster, Y. Okumura, P. Cara, R. Heidinger, A. Kasugai, K. Iizuka

6th IFMIF Workshop hosted by Nagoya and Kyoto Universities

Nagoya & Kyoto, Japan, 20-24 January 2014PosterOriginalSmallNews

The New Year brought a very important event for the IFMIF agenda: the 6th International IFMIF Workshop, kindly hosted by the universities of Nagoya and Kyoto, from Monday 20 to Friday 24 January 2014, where the most recent advances and achieved milestones of our project were shared among the community. In particular, the recent achievement of the IFMIF IIEDR (Intermediate IFMIF Engineering Design Report) submitted on schedule on June 2013, stamping the end of the IFMIF Engineering Design Activities, was thoroughly covered during the first day. Also, the on-going activities on the different EVEDA prototyping subprojects were discussed, with special relevance to the latest advances of the LIPAc accelerator, which installation is about to start.
The time we all passed together reinforced the links and allowed lots of valuable parallel discussions to exchange ideas and to clarify points of view, which are essential for the important coming milestones that we will have to overcome in the next months. Our project is entering a decisive phase but the global enthusiasm shared these days in Nagoya and Kyoto reflect a strong will to face the difficulties ahead, and are a foretaste of the coming successes.

Link to the workshop agenda

Nagoya
Nagoya
Kyoto
Kyoto

6th LIPAc Technical Meeting

Rokkasho, Japan, 26-28 November 2014
LTM-06 Group photo
LTM-06 Participants (Group photo)

The 6th LIPAc Technical Meeting (LTM06) was held in Rokkasho, BA site Fusion Energy Research Center (Japan), from 26th to 28th November 2014.

More than 40 participants, from CEA (Saclay, France), INFN (Legnaro, Italy), JAEA (Rokkasho, Japan), CIEMAT (Madrid, Spain), F4E (Garching, Germany) and PT of IFMIF/EVEDA attended the meeting to discuss progress in the design, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of the LIPAc (Linear IFMIF Prototype Accelerator).

Much technical information was exchanged by the various presenters, showing the status of the different components. After the previous LTM05, held in Legnaro (Italy), a lot of progress has been made, demonstrating the strong effort of the entire LIPAc community in Japan and Europe.

Partial view of attendees to LTM06
Partial view of attendees to LTM06

Important milestones were reached in the project and presented in detail during the meeting:

  • Injector First Plasma! On 23th of October 2014. The first plasma was produced with 80W of RF power and a gas flow of 1.9 sccm at 75kV. The following day the RF power was incrementally to 130W.
  • Injector First H+ Beam (Accelerator Vault was set under controlled area) 4th November 2014 at 16:18 the first beam was extracted; H+ Beam at 70KeV/40mA, 46.7 mA, Faraday cup current 100 ms/s 10% duty. In the two following days of Injector commissioning were reached 105mA of beam current, great result!
  • The RF power systems; 8 HVPS dedicated to the RFQ have already been manufactured, three of them have already been tested, and the remaining five are ready for test. They are expected to be delivered to Rokkasho in the first trimester of 2015.

 

Production of the first plasma
Production of the first plasma
LTM06InjectorOPI
Injector operator station in the control room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key MEBT components are already integrated and the conditioning of the buncher is progressing well. The MEBT is expected to arrive in Rokkasho after summer 2015.

  • The LPBD final report was delivered and design for manufacture is now ongoing. The cooling system was confirmed stand-alone system, and the licensing strategy clarified.

    Injector LEBT-FC and beam stopper
    Injector LEBT-FC and beam stopper
  • The SRF Linac design is basically finished and manufacturing contracts for the critical components are now being placed. The licensing strategy is ongoing…
  • The D-Plate will be completely assembled by the end of 2014 and ready for shipment after summer in 2015.
  • The HEBT and Beam Dump main components have been completely designed, the associated technical specifications are nearing completion and several manufacturing contracts have been launched.
  • PPS-MPS and LCS are now in operation controlling the injector operation, some modifications will be necessary for the next phase.

A site visit of the Accelerator Prototype Building was held, so all participants could see the installed injector. The injector was assembled by JAEA and their subcontractor, with the assistance of CEA experts, positively demonstrating the close collaboration between all parties.

HV Platform and ion source view
HV Platform and ion source view

We are now eagerly awaiting the end of the commissioning phase of the Injector, with an expected completion date of July 2015. The next step will be the installation of the RF power system components, followed by the installation of the RFQ, MEBT, D-plate and LPBD. Since it was announced the arriving of a wealth of components in 2015, we must be all ready for their installation in parallel with other activities.

 

See you next LTM07 in Rokkasho:

LTM07 is planned for the 15th -19th June 2015, and will be held again in Rokkasho (Japan).

IMG_2841
Hakkoda, snow monsters
IMG_2866
Hakkoda mountains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LTM06LIPAcBld
LIPAc, North-West view