ITER-Earthing

Earthing of electrical installations is mainly governed by safety rules. Electromagnetic compatibility also deals with earthing, among other circuit characteristics. Tokamaks are large-scale electrical installations that are known to generate large and low frequency magnetic fields as well as large and high frequency electric fields. Four European Tokamak installations have been investigated, from the earthing point of view, to identify appropriate techniques to earth the electrical equipment and to provide the lowest possible electromagnetic interference with the measurement circuits. But none of these existing installations looks like ITER, not even remotely. The plasma current range, the superconducting coils, the thick and continuous vacuum vessel, the cryostat, the very high voltage of its neutral beam injectors, the available amount of auxiliary heating power, the sensitivity of its magnetic measurements required for long pulses, the size of the site and the powerful supply grid all affect the plant earthing. Based on these investigations and the ITER specificities, a layout of the ITER site electrical supply grid and of the related earthing grid is proposed. Basic rules to reduce the electromagnetic noise at its sources and to improve the measurement immunity are also suggested.