The ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF), called PRIMA (Padova Research on ITER Megavolt Accelerator), is hosted in Padova, Italy and includes two experiments: MITICA, the full-scale prototype of the ITER heating neutral beam injector, and SPIDER, the full-size radio frequency negative-ions source. The NBTF realization and the exploitation of SPIDER and MITICA have been recognized as necessary to make the future operation of the ITER heating neutral beam injectors efficient and reliable, fundamental to the achievement of thermonuclear-relevant plasma parameters in ITER. This paper reports on design and R&D carried out to construct PRIMA, SPIDER and MITICA, and highlights the huge progress made in just a few years, from the signature of the agreement for the NBTF realization in 2011, up to now-when the buildings and relevant infrastructures have been completed, SPIDER is entering the integrated commissioning phase and the procurements of several MITICA components are at a well advanced stage.

SPIDER is one of the two projects of the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) under construction in Padova, Italy, at Consorzio RFX premises; it will have a 100 keV beam source with a full-size prototype of the radiofrequency (RF) ion source for the ITER Neutral Beam Injector (NBI), designed to operate with pulse length up to 3600 s, featuring ITER-like filter field configuration, caesium oven layout and a wide set of diagnostics. These features will allow reproducing the ion source operation like in ITER as cannot be done in any other existing test facility. SPIDER realization is well advanced and the first operation is expected at the beginning of 2018, with the mission to prove the possibility of achieving the ITER heating and diagnostic NBI ion source requirements and of improving its performance in terms of reliability and availability. This paper mainly focuses on the preparation of the first SPIDER operations: integration and testing of SPIDER components, completion and implementation of diagnostics and control and workout of operation and research plan, based on a staged strategy.

The ITER baseline foresees 2 Heating Neutral Beams (HNB's) based on 1 MeV 40 A D(-) negative ion accelerators, each capable of delivering 16.7 MW of deuterium atoms to the DT plasma, with an optional 3rd HNB injector foreseen as a possible upgrade. In addition, a dedicated diagnostic neutral beam will be injecting ≈22 A of H(0) at 100 keV as the probe beam for charge exchange recombination spectroscopy. The integration of the injectors into the ITER plant is nearly finished necessitating only refinements. A large number of components have passed the final design stage, manufacturing has started, and the essential test beds-for the prototype route chosen-will soon be ready to start.

The lower hybrid current drive ͑LHCD͒ system is an important system in superconducting steady state tokamak ͑SST-1͒. It is used to drive and maintain the plasma current for 1000 s with a duty cycle of 17%. The LHCD system is being designed to launch 1 MW of radio frequency ͑rf͒ power at 3.7 GHz. The rf source is comprised of two high power klystron amplifiers, each capable of delivering 500 kW rf power. In this article, the results obtained during installation and commissioning of these klystrons are presented. Two klystrons ͑model TH2103D͒ have been successfully installed and commissioned on dummy loads, delivering ϳ200 kW power for more than 1000 s. The maximum output power that could be obtained is limited due to the available direct current ͑dc͒ power supply. The test system is comprised of a TH2103D klystron, a low power rf ͑3.7 GHz/25 W͒ source, two high power four port circulators, two high power dual directional couplers, two arc detector systems, and two dummy water loads. To avoid rf breakdown in the rf components of the transmission line, the system has been pressurized with dry air to 3 bar. To energize and operate the klystron, a high voltage dc power supply, a magnet power supply, an ion pump power supply, a Ϫ65 kV floating anode modulator power supply, and a filament power supply are used. An arc detector unit has been installed to detect and initiate action within a few microseconds to protect the klystron, waveguides, and other rf passive components during arcing. To protect the klystron in the event of an arc, a fast responding ͑Ͻ10 s͒, rail gap based pressurized crowbar unit has been used. The entire system is water cooled to avoid excess temperature rise during high power continuous wave operation of the klystron and other rf components. The tube requires initial conditioning. Thereafter, the output rf power is studied as a function of beam parameters such as cathode voltage and beam current.

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