Recent advances of the IFMIF-DONES central instrumentation and control systems engineering design

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility-DEMO[sbnd]Oriented NEutron Source (IFMIF-DONES) is an accelerator-based neutron source that generates high-energy neutrons via stripping processes by focusing a high-energy deuteron beam on a fast-flowing liquid lithium jet. The neutrons produced are used for the irradiation of materials foreseen in DEMO, thus providing relevant data for the design and licensing of the future fusion reactor. The complexity of such a plant is managed by a central control system that guarantees the safe supervision and control of all operations. This paper summarizes the most recent developments in the design of the IFMIF-DONES plant's Central Instrumentation and Control Systems (CICS) after the completion of the preliminary design phase. In particular, the architecture of two of the main CICS systems (namely, MPS and SCS) is described in detail, focussing on the specific design choices recently proposed. For each system, the current status of design is presented, as well as the existing and future plans for their integration in a unique control framework.