Accelerator
Last week, the first medium beta cryomodule – part of a series production, was delivered to the ESS site from French In-Kind partner, CEA/IRFU. Placed in the preparation area in Test Stand 2 within the Klystron Gallery, it will be the first proper cryomodule to be fully tested inside the Test Stand 2 bunker before being installed in the medium beta section of the linac tunnel. On the road to the commissioning of the Normal Conducting Linac, activities in the Accelerator tunnel and Klystron Gallery include:
- Conditioning of the Radio Frequency Quadrupole
- Modification and testing of water skids
- Radio Frequency system and waveguide conditioning and testing
- Power cabling and commissioning of three modulators and six klystrons (whereof four are currently in place) in the Normal Conducting Gallery
- Rack population, followed by energisation and tests
Meanwhile, cable raceways, cable pulling and terminations continue in the Spokes, Medium and High Beta parts of the tunnel.
Target
ESS has recently gained access to the mock-up area on the ground floor of the Transport Hall, and assembly of a six-by-six metre steel frame structure inside the hall is now ongoing. The purpose of this Mock-up and Test Stand is to align and test Target components, to trial remote handling systems, cask lifting and crane operations, and to perform training of remote handling personnel. Test and commissioning of the high bay Level 3 crane continue, with Site Acceptance Testing over the full high bay planned for mid-October. Test lifts with weights will be performed from the Transport Hall area. The plan is to have the crane operational with a capacity of up to 95 tonnes by the time the Monolith vessel arrives from Spanish In-Kind partner, ESS Bilbao.
Sheet metal cladding has started on the back of the Target Building, by the Transport Hall high bay level. Horizontal steel profiles to hold the cladding sheets are currently mounted. This is the final Target facade element, which will result in a shiny, metal exterior for the Target building. Shielding doors with a special door opening mechanism for the triangular rooms surrounding the Monolith area are currently in the manufacturing stage and are scheduled to be delivered and installed on site later this autumn.
Experimental Halls & Labs
Installation of sandwich panels has started for the lab building to Experimental Hall 2, the remaining roof trusses for Experimental Hall 1 are being installed, while the rest of the building has been equipped with sandwich panels and roofing works progresses.
The south ‘sombrero’ (cantilever roof) installed along the sandwich façade of Experimental Hall 1 is almost completed towards the west end of the building and the steel structure for the second part of the Beamline Gallery is complete and this will be followed by roof works and sandwich panel installation scheduled to start before the end of October.
During the last week of September, the ESS Neutron Scattering Systems division will start steel assembly for the west sector of the bunker inside Experimental Hall 2. Pre-assembly was successfully performed by the manufacturer in Hungary. The first activity will be the installation of pillars for the long sector of the bunker. The lower shielding blocks for the instruments CSPEC, MAGIC and BIFROST have previously been installed in the Beamline Gallery (part 1). Right now, pilot casts of the next level shielding blocks are being performed at the supplier, for the beamlines for instruments C-SPEC and BIFROST.
ESS Campus
The future office, workshops and labs for ESS are now in the final stages of internal finishes. The three buildings will be ready for ESS staff to occupy during the first quarter of 2021. Outdoors, concrete streets are cast in-situ and a park-like recreation area, the Campus plaza, is under creation, while all facades are now complete.
