Multiple Concentric High Voltage Cable

70736 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 will perform the required analyses and tradeoffs of the cable and connector design, materials, construction methods, and performance to arrive at one or more manufacturable cable designs. One or more complete, manufacturable cable designs will be constructed and tested in Phase II. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the 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, which would reduce 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.