Multiple Concentric High Voltage Cable

70736S02-II The Next Generation Linear Collider (NLC) requires significant numbers of klystrons and pulsed power supplies for operation. The baseline klystron design requires pulsing at 500 kV, which leads to significant losses in the pulsed power supplies, representing $40 ¿ $100 million or more in electricity costs over a 10 year NLC life. A gridded sheetbeam klystron that eliminates the 500 kV pulsing and associated power losses is being developed as an alternative to this baseline klystron. However, the new klystron will require a fundamentally new approach to powering the sheetbeam klystrons, one that places significant demands on the two hundred foot cable that is envisioned to connect the power supplies and fast grid pulsers to the klystrons. This project will develop high voltage cables that will meet the NLC sheetbeam klystron requirements and be affordable in the large quantities required for construction of the NLC itself. Phase I conducted the required analyses and tradeoffs of the cable and connector design, materials, construction methods, and performance to arrive at a manufacturable cable design. Phase II will iterate and finalize the cable design, and manufacture representative samples. These cables will be tested and assessed for performance, reliability, and cost, and a cable design will be selected for full scale prototyping. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: The new cable should contribute to a large reduction in the operational costs of the Next Generation Linear Collider. At the same time, this design would enable a more cost-effective physical configuration of the NLC power system, thereby, reducing construction and maintenance costs. Beyond the NLC, thousands of industrial and medical accelerators could benefit from adopting the sheetbeam klystron, which would utilize the new cable technology.