Neutron diagnostics at the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator

The stellarator W7-X, presently under construction at the Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, will be equipped with a set of neutron monitors in order to study the time behaviour of neutron emission generated during D-D plasma operation and neutral beam heating with Deuterium. Each of these neutron monitors consists of several neutron detector tubes inserted in a dedicated moderator. The neutron monitors at W7-X are designed to monitor neutron yields with a time resolution of 5 ms and with a statistical uncertainty of better than 15%. One of the monitors is located in the centre above the stellarator. The other five monitors are distributed around the torus. A prerequisite for the determination of the absolute neutron source strength produced by D(d,n) 3 He fusion reactions in the plasma is an in-situ calibration with a neutron source of known source strength. During such a calibration procedure, the neutron source will be moved along the torus axis and the count rates of the different neutron monitors will be measured. In a first benchmark experiment, an 241 AmBe neutron source was moved along the torus axis within one module of the stellarator and the neutron signals were measured by a De Pangher Long Counter outside of the cryostat chamber as a function of the neutron source position. These measurements have been compared with predictions of Monte Carlo calculations (MCNP) of the neutron propagation from the location of the neutron source to the long counter. The concept of neutron monitors will be reported together with results from the benchmark experiment and results from MCNP calculations. The neutron monitor system is the first part of several neutron diagnostic systems such as neutron activation system, neutron profile camera planned for future neutron analysis. A short survey of these neutron diagnostic tools of W7-X will be given.