ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility

The ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility is a part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Padova, Veneto, Italy. The facility will host the full-scale prototype of the reactor's neutral beam injector, MITICA (Megavolt ITer Injector & Concept Advancement), and a smaller prototype of its ion source, SPIDER (Source for the Production of Ions of Deuterium Extracted from a Radio frequency plasma). SPIDER started its operation in June 2018. SPIDER will be used to optimize the ion beam source, to optimize the use of cesium vapor, and to verify the uniformity of the extracted ion beam also during long pulses.