Development Status of KSTAR 5 GHz LHCD System

Abstract

A steady-state lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system is under development for advanced tokamak experiments of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device. The KSTAR 5 GHz steady-state LHCD system is being designed to couple an input power of 2 MW for 300 s generated by four 5 GHz klystrons. For the development of this system, there are two critical issues. One is the development of a 5 GHz CW klystron for the RF source of the system. The other is the design of a steady-state LH launcher with active water cooling. In this paper, the current status of the development and design for the KSTAR steady-state LHCD system is described. For the LHCD system, aiming at a basic experimental study of 5 GHz LH wave propagation and operational experience with an LHCD system, the installation of an initial LHCD system with a capacity of 0.5 MW for 2s is scheduled in 2010 using a 5 GHz prototype klystron and an un-cooled 1 MW launcher. The design and progress for the initial LHCD system are also presented. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.