Retractable tube design issues in ITER CXRS UPP #3

The retractable tube is located in the upper port plug #3 of ITER core charge exchange recombination spectroscopy (cCXRS), where it is surrounded by a set of mirrors, diagnostic shielding module (DSM), outer shell, cleaning device and shutter. Accordingly to the recent port plug concept the tube is an optional unit that carries the cleaning system of the first mirror. The cleaning device shall be a compact instrument at the tube head that influences the tube diameter primarily. Independently of the cleaning device the tube cooling channels and its proper support concept has to be developed. Various manufacturing methods are investigated for the proper layout of the tube cooling structure. They are the gun-drilled deep holes, the solid state bonded sheets forming cooling channels between the welded layers, 'tube-in-tube' approach. Most of them were analyzed in view of their thermal conditions. The tube support system design is a complex task, that has to take into account several boundary conditions and limitations. The tube must be compatible with the assumed ITER generic installation procedure, withstand the electromagnetic (EM) and thermal loads. Furthermore, the tube has to be exchanged several times during its lifetime. The paper summarizes the tube cooling layout possibilities and the assumptions on its support concepts. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.