SPIDER beam source procurement: manufacturing and as- sembly at the factory

The heating neutral beam injectors (HNBs) at ITER are expected to deliver 33 MW of neutral beam power to the ITER plasma for the purposes of heating and current drive. This is achieved by using 2 injectors, each capable of delivering 16.5 MW of neutral beam power. The beam source of each injector is a complex assembly composed by an RF based negative ion source having an extraction area of ?1.6 m2 2 and a 1MV accelerator having 5 stages of 200 kV each. As a similar source meeting the ITER beam specifications is yet to be realized and the functional requirements have never been met, it was recognized as necessary to setup a test facility, PRIMA (Padova Research on ITER Megavolt Accelerator), in Italy, including a full-size 100 kV negative ion source, SPIDER test bed, and a prototype of the ITER HNB injectors, 1 MV MITICA test bed. The SPIDER beam source procurement started in October 2012 and is expected to be delivered during the second half 2016. Some technical challenges have been overcome during the manufacturing phase and prototypes have been developed to qualify some design details and manufacturing processes for different source components. All the parts and components of the beam source are currently manufactured and tested. The next phase of assembly at the factory is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2016 and requires a well-developed sequence of operations not only to assemble the different components of the source ensuring electrical insulation, leak tightness and grids alignment within the envisaged tolerances but also of the mounting of various diagnostics, which will aid the operation and optimization of the source parameters. The paper will highlight procurement challenges, the technical achievements and the assembly experiences of this complex component.