The Magpie Programme

MAGPIE is a TW class generator being constructed at the Imperial College in U.K. The generator, based on Marx-pulsed line technology, is specifically designed to operate with a high inductance Z-pinch load. Four 2.4 MV Marx, with a total stored energy of 336 kJ, couple through four 5 ohm water PFL and four synchronized switches to a single 1.25 ohm transfer line. This delivers over 1.5 MA into a 150 nH load in 150 ns. The initial objective is to produce the right condition to study the physics of radiative collapse in a plasma formed from a solid cryogenic hydrogen fibre. This paper outlines the programme and discusses details of the design philosophy of the pulsed power components.