Hectic times
"Our department has the longest name of all: CODAC & IT, Heating and Current Drive, and Diagnostics (CHD) Department. For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, CODAC is the central control system of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¸ßÊÖ.
All staff members have moved to Cadarache from Naka and Garching, and the Department has started functioning in earnest. By the end of February, the IT group will have shifted all of its facilities to Cadarache from Garching. By the middle of the year, we will have 30 staff members. At the moment, our main focus is the preparation of the work plan needed to complete the Procurement Packages, and activities needed to conclude the designs of the systems, so the specifications can be written.
A CODAC Project Management Working Group has been formed, including one member of each Participant Team, which will oversee the link between CODAC decisions and the implications for the Participant Teams. As CODAC is a procurement package financed though the Fund, in-sourcing of resources and out-sourcing of activities will play a significant role in the success of making the system work.
Heating and Current Drive systems are very high-tech systems, and they still need some R&D to validate various parameters of the system components. The multi-Party Test Facility for Neutral Beams, which is being set up at Padua in Italy, should clarify some issues related to heating and diagnostic beams.
A Diagnostic Port Engineering Task Force has now been formed which will interface with the Parties to resolve existing interface issues among the diagnostic systems which share a port plug. We are passing through a really exciting and hectic time and we are seeking the support from all the experts in these areas. We will keep you informed on the progress from time to time."