Automatic control of ITER‐like structures

In ITER Ion Cyclotron System a power transfer efficiency in excess of 90% from power source to plasma in quasi continuous operation. This implies the availability of a control system capable of optimizing the array radiation spectrum, automatically acquiring impedance match between the power source and the plasma loaded array at the beginning of the power pulse and maintaining it against load variations due to plasma position and plasma edge parameters fluctuations, rapidly detecting voltage breakdowns in the array and/or in the transmission system and reliably discriminating them from fast load variations. In this paper a proposal for a practical ITER control system, including power, phase, frequency and impedance matching is described.