Neutronics analysis of the ITER Collective Thomson Scattering system

Abstract The Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS) will be the ITER diagnostic responsible for measuring the alpha-particle velocity distribution. Using mirrors, a powerful microwave beam is directed into the plasma via an opening in the plasma-facing wall. The microwaves will scatter off fluctuations in the plasma, and the scattered signal is recorded after transmission through a series of mirrors and waveguides. Several components of the CTS system will be directly exposed to neutron radiation from the plasma which can change the properties of the components and reduce their lifetime. In this paper, a neutronics analysis is presented for the CTS system. A study on the influence of different materials on the nuclear heat loads in the launcher mirror is also presented, along with the design of a simple cooling system. All the studies were conducted using the Monte Carlo program MCNP6. The outputs, in particular the nuclear heat loads, will be used to perform the thermal analysis of the system.