Development of Fast Protection System and Slow Interlock System in the RAON Accelerator

Abstract

The RAON accelerator has been constructed to generate and accelerate stable and rare isotope beams for various kinds of science programs by the rare isotope science project (RISP) in Daejeon, Korea since 2011. The beam created by an ion source will be accelerated by the superconducting linear accelerator up to the experimental target in the RAON accelerator. During the acceleration and the transportation of the beam, the sudden loss of the beam with high energy and power can be occurred by a device interlock or a beam distortion, and it leads to serious damages of the accelerator equipment. Therefore, we are developing the machine protection system to protect the accelerator during the beam operation. For efficient protection, the machine protection system includes the FPGA-based fast protection system and the PLC-based slow interlock system depending on the response time to interlock signals and device types. The prototypes of both systems were successfully developed and tested at the RISP test facility, and the products are under development based on the results of the prototypes from late 2017. In this paper, we will describe the current development status of the fast protection system and the slow interlock system in the RAON accelerator and present the future plans.