Characterizations and First Plasma Operation of the WEST Load-resilient Actively Cooled ICRF Launchers

The paper discusses the characterization of the three high power steady-state and load-resilient ICRF launchers of WEST before their installation in the tokamak. These launchers have been characterized and validated in low-power experiments (milliwatt range) as well as in experiments at the nominal RF voltages and currents in the TITAN vacuum chamber (similar to 30 kV and 915 A peak). The successful commissioning of two of the launchers during the WEST C3 campaign at similar to 1 MW power level is illustrated. Manual and real-time controlled impedance-matching of the launchers are discussed, as well as the validation of their load-resilience. Furthermore, several redundant and complementary protection systems have been validated and are reviewed in the paper.