Supply of MAST-U ENH C&I Hardware

The Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) machine at the CCFE site is undergoing enhancements and upgrades (MAST-U), which will position it at the forefront of fusion research well into the next decade. The Purchaser will augment MAST-U with the addition of a microwave heating and current drive system, in the form of ~2MW of Electron Bernstein Wave (EBW) power for up to 5s. This system will enable the scientific investigation of the use of microwaves for the purposes of driving current on spherical tokamaks as well as for solenoid free plasma start-up. The system will consist of two microwave sources (gyrotrons), their high-voltage power supplies, control systems, ancillary services, transmission lines and steerable in-vacuum quasi-optical launching systems.

The EBW Control System is crucial for the remote operation of the entire system, featuring all aspects of control, data acquisition, data management, machine protection and personnel protection. Its design adopts a distributed architecture that consists of 5 sub-systems:

1. Personnel Access Safety Sub-system - providing personnel protection;
2. Launch Control Sub-system - controlling set up of transmission line and launch parameters;
3. Power Control Sub-system - controlling power supplies and gyrotron to achieve desired power output;
4. Operation Management Sub-system - providing slower timescale plant control and monitoring e.g. cooling water plant; and
5. Asset Protection Sub-system - providing primarily fast protection for the gyrotrons