New conditioning procedures derived from operating experience with the common DIII-D neutral beam ion source

The DIII-D neutral beam system utilizes an 80 kV version of the Common Long-Pulse Ion Source designed by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories (LBL) and originally built by RCA. Eight of these ion sources are mounted on four beamlines to provide a total of 20 MW of injected deuterium neutral power to the DIII-D tokamak. To support the DIII-D one-shift operation, neutral beams must be readied in a relatively short period of time each day, typically one hour. During non-operating periods conditioning time for the ion sources is limited, due to the costs of associated support services and the need to perform corrective and preventive maintenance. The experience gained over a six year period has resulted in finely tuned procedures for the conditioning and operation of these ion sources. Recently, an ion source was conditioned which had been accidentally filled with water for several days, resulting in surface corrosion and deconditioning of the grids and surfaces. The method of successful recovery along with data, experience and procedures derived from this event and normal operations will be detailed and discussed