With the successful Acceptance Review of the Drift Tube Linac (DTL) last week, Italy has completed its in-kind delivery to the construction of the ESS accelerator. The review was carried out jointly by ESS and its Italian in-kind partner INFN, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics, marking the final step in the acceptance of Italy’s contributions to the accelerator.
The Drift Tube Linac is the final section of the ESS accelerator’s normal-conducting linac. It accelerates the proton beam to higher energies before it is transferred to the superconducting part of the accelerator, playing a key role in preparing the beam for the next stages of acceleration.
With the DTL now accepted, all Italian in-kind systems for the ESS accelerator construction are in place and validated. These include the ion source, the Low Energy Beam Transport (LEBT) section, medium-beta accelerating cavities in the superconducting linac, and the DTL itself. The systems were also tested with beam during the Beam on Dump commissioning campaign in May last year.
The Acceptance Review took place at ESS on 13 January, with representatives from INFN, including Andrea Pisent (INFN-Legnaro) and Paolo Mereu (INFN-Torino), who hold overall responsibility for the delivery and mechanical design of the DTL. Following the completed review, the DTL report will be presented to ESS’ In-Kind Review Committee for final approval by the ESS Council as part of Italy’s contribution to ESS.
Ciprian Plostinar, Head of the ESS Accelerator Division, notes: ”The completion of this in-kind package reflects the long-standing and close collaboration between ESS and INFN. Over many years, this partnership has successfully combined technical expertise and shared commitment, bringing the ESS accelerator closer to producing high energy proton beams.”
