Magnet operation in vacuum for high radiation environment near production target

In a high-intensity proton beam facility, beam line elements downstream of a production target are exposed to a huge amount of radiation and heat. A water-cooled beam collimator must be located between the target and the magnets, and the iron yokes of the magnets also have to be cooled by water. Moreover, beam pipes are closer to the beam than the magnet poles and more difficult to cool sufficiently without tritium production. Therefore, the magnets are placed in a large vacuum chamber, instead of using vacuum pipes located within the pole gaps. In order to reduce the residual radiation dose during maintenance, the chamber lid and feedthroughs are 4 meter above the beam line, and radiation-shielding blocks are also stacked in the chamber. We have tested magnet operation in vacuum using a dipole magnet with mineral-insulation-cable (MIC) coils and a nickel-coated yoke. A magnet with 2500-A-class hollow-conductor MIC coils has worked successfully with the current of DC 3000 A. The stability of operation in vacuum was confirmed by measuring the temperature with thermocouples and the magnetic field with a NMR probe. We have also succeeded in operating a 1000-A-class solid-conductor MIC coil in vacuum.