Speaker
Description
The ITER Neutral Beam Injection Heating and Current Drive system consists of 2 (upgradable to 3) Heating Neutral Beams (HNB) and 1 Diagnostic Neutral Beam (DNB).
A HNB system capable of these parameters had never been designed nor tested, hence the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) was set up at Consorzio RFX premises (Italy) aimed at developing the injector prototype.
The facility includes two test beds: the full-scale HNB prototype, named MITICA, that will enter into operation in 2027, and SPIDER, with 100 keV particle energy, aimed at testing and optimizing in advance the ITER-size ion source, in operation since 2018.
This contribution describes the development progress at the NBTF in Padova related to ITER HNB-size beam sources deployed in SPIDER and MITICA, in particular highlighting the recent contributions of activities on both devices.
SPIDER completed the second campaign with good results, and is starting the third one, finally in full configuration to aim at the complete set of target parameters.
MITICA is progressing in the preparation for the start of operations. MITICA beam source was finally delivered onsite in June 2026, soon to be installed inside the vacuum vessel.
| Email address | diego.marcuzzi@igi.cnr.it |
|---|---|
| Classification | H- and D- sources for fusion, accelerators and other applications |