NCSX Memorandum

To: T. Brown, A. Brooks, H-M. Fan, B. Nelson, D. Williamson, M. Cole, P. Goranson, R. Hatcher, C. Neumeyer, L. Dudek, P. Heitzenroeder

CC: J. Schmidt, H. Neilson, J. Lyon, S. Hirshman, M. Zarnstorff, A. Reiman. L. Berry, D. Strickler, R. Simmons, H. Kugel

From: W. Reiersen

Date: 1/11/2001

Re: Minutes of 1/10 Engineering telecon

An engineering telecon was held on January 10. The discussion centered on changing the size and toroidal field of the machine in order to reduce the cost. The cost objective provided by the Director’s Office is $55M in FY99$ with a funding cap of $15M per year.

The design parameters suggested by the Director’s Office were 1.4m (reduced from 1.7m) and 1.5T (reduced from 2T). Reiersen prepared guidance to the Engineering team on implementing these changes. However, the first part of the meeting was occupied by a discussion about whether these were the right parameters. Zarnstorff suggested that perhaps an even smaller size but higher field (>2T) might be desirable for better physics. Concerns about going in this direction are increased current density (scales as B/R), stress (scales as B²), and reduced access. The outcome of the discussion was that Neilson agreed to provide firm guidance by the end of the week. Reiersen went on to review what needed to be done to respond to this change in design parameters and other ideas to reduce cost. Nelson provided a useful comparison of HSX and NCSX.

The next Engineering telecon will be held next Wednesday, January 17, at 1:30pm. Please provide the following information in advance of the meeting:

Revised requirements and machine parameters at reduced size (Reiersen)

NB access at the reduced size (Cole)

Possibilities for beam scraping to reduce horizontal width requirements (Kugel)

Prospects for manned access on boom mounted creeper through port adjacent to NB port (Cole)

Why do we have fully potted coils and what are the associated DT (J²t) limits (Nelson)

Further thoughts on the free-standing, bakeable liner including cost impact, selection of VV material (Nelson)

Assess technical feasibility of mounting trim coils on inside of 150C VV (Nelson)

Impacts of eliminating PF4 (Reiersen, Cole)

Selection of winding cavity design – I-beam? T-section? L-section? (Nelson)

Assess technical feasibility and cost implications of using cast aluminum instead of SS (Nelson)

What do we think trim coils will look like (Brooks)

Cost impact of reducing the number of NB in TPC from 4 to 2 (Kugel)

Cost impact of reducing the number of circuits in Day One configuration from 10 to 6 (Neumeyer)

Impacts of not disassembling PBX, recommendation (Chrzanowski)

Current tally of costs requested by Director’s Office (Simmons)

1. Previous baseline estimate and contingency used in the presentation to FESAC

2. Present estimate for 1.7m option

3. Present estimate for 1.4m option

4. Actual NSTX costs (mapped into NCSX WBS as closely as possible)