This large (32 cm long) electron tube was used as a switching tube in a high-voltage power supply in the Accelerator Physics Branch at CRNL. Manufactured by e2v Industries in England, this CX1140 hydrogen thyratron was capable of switching peak loads of up to 1000A at voltages up to 25 kV. High current loads are often difficult to switch off because of a continuation of the arc across the contacts. That problem is avoided with a thyratron.
