Status and Plans for the NSTX-U Recovery Project

The NSTX Upgrade device began operation in 2016 and performed 10 weeks of commissioning activities and initial scientific research. However, a number of technical issues, including the failure of a divertor magnetic field coil, resulted in the suspension of operations. In response, a facility-wide “Extent of Condition” review was initiated at the request of the Department of Energy. This review generated a comprehensive corrective action plan and organization of a dedicated “Recovery Project” to enable NSTX-U to be the most capable Spherical Tokamak in the world program while also improving facility reliability. There are eight major scope items in the NSTX-U Recovery Project including: (1) six redesigned inner PF coils, (2) redesigned upper and lower polar region structures, (3) redesigned select plasma facing components, (4) improved bake-out, (5) additional component stress/strain trending instrumentation, (6) enhanced test cell shielding, (7) implementation of the accelerator safety order, and (8) reassembly of NSTX-U components with improved alignment. Progress, status, and plans for the NSTX-U Recovery Project will be described.