Neutral beam interlock system on TFTR using infrared pyrometry

Although the region of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) vacuum vessel wall which is susceptible to damage by neutral beam strike is armored with a mosaic of TiC‐clad POCO graphite tiles, at power deposition levels above 2.5 kW/cm2 the armor surface temperature exceeds 1200 °C within 250 ms, and itself becomes susceptible to damage. In order to protect the wall armor, a neutral beam interlock system based on infrared pyrometry measurement of the armor surface temperature was installed on TFTR. For each beamline, a three‐fiber‐optic telescope views three areas of ∼30 cm diameter centered on the armor hot spots for the three ion sources. Each signal is fiber‐optic coupled to a remote 900‐nm pyrometer which feeds analog signals to the neutral beam interrupt circuits. The pyrometer interlock system is designed to interrupt each of the 12 ion sources independently within 10 ms of the temperature exceeding a threshold which can be set in the range of 500–2300 °C. A description of the pyrometer interlock system and its performance will be presented.