Preliminary description of the ground test accelerator cryogenic cooling system

The Ground Test Accelerator (GTA) under construction at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is part of the Neutral Particle Beam Program supported by the Strategic Defense Initiative Office. The GTA is a full-sized test facility to evaluate the feasibility of using a negative ion accelerator to produce a neutral particle beam (NPB). The NPB would ultimately be used outside the earth's atmosphere as a target discriminator or as a directed energy weapon. The operation of the GTA at cryogenic temperature is advantageous for two reasons: first, the decrease of temperature caused a corresponding decrease in the rf heating of the copper in the various units of the accelerator, and second, at the lower temperature the decrease in the thermal expansion coefficient also provides greater thermal stability and consequently, better operating stability for the accelerator. This paper discusses the cryogenic cooling system needed to achieve these advantages. 5 figs., 3 tabs.