Machine Protection & Interlocks

Independent interlocks and trips act faster than operators to terminate the plasma and discharge magnets when limits are exceeded.

The machine-protection system prevents damage by acting automatically when the plant approaches or exceeds a safe limit. Interlocks block unsafe actions, and trips terminate the plasma and, if needed, discharge the magnets. These functions are independent of the normal control system so a control fault cannot disable them.

Interlocks

Interlocks enforce preconditions: magnets cannot be energized until coils are cold and protection is armed; the reactor hall cannot be occupied during operation; fueling cannot exceed a safe rate. They make unsafe sequences impossible rather than merely discouraged.

Trips

• Coil quench → fast discharge of stored energy
• Loss of cooling → controlled shutdown
• Loss of vacuum → plasma termination
• Loss of critical power → safe state on backup

Independence

Protection uses independent, and where required diverse, sensing and logic so common-mode faults and control-system compromise cannot defeat it. Its correct operation is demonstrated by fault injection during commissioning. The protection system is engineered at design stage against the frozen machine, including the plug (26.49 T) coil energy.