New technological solutions for the power supply system of the RFX toroidal circuit

The new power supply system of the RFX (reversed field experiment) toroidal field coils, is based on recent high power semiconductor components named IGCTs (integrated gate commutated thyristor). It represents the first application in a thermonuclear fusion experiment of a static power supply based on IGCTs. The paper reports a detailed description of the main devices and of the complete electric circuits, the provisions adopted to increase the plant safety and the solutions aimed at reducing the overcurrents in case of fault.