Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been developing innovative pellet injection systems for plasma fueling experiments on magnetic fusion confinement devices for about 20 years. Recently, the ORNL development has focused on meeting the complex fueling needs of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). In this paper, we describe the ongoing research and development activities that will lead to an ITER prototype pellet injector test stand. The present effort addresses three main areas: (1) an improved pellet feed and delivery system for centrifuge injectors, (2) a long-pulse (up to steady-state) hydrogen extruder system, and (3) tritium extruder technology. The final prototype system must be fully tritium compatible and will be used to demonstrate the operating parameters and the reliability required for the ITER fueling application.
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