Initial Operation of a 100% Duty Factor 3 MeV Alvarez Linac

A 100% duty factor 3 MeV Alvarez linac at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories has been successfully rf conditioned. A buncher has been commissioned and cw proton beams up to 1.2 mA have been accelerated to 3 MeV. Renewed experiments on drift tube stem mountings show stem currents to be the major cause of bellows overheating. A 2ßλ Alvarez tank that models the geometry of a higher energy ßλ Alvarez tank is being built to test new linac design concepts at 100% duty factor.