ITER NEWSLINE
101
Europe completes toroidal field strand qualification
Alex Vostner, ITER Magnets Division
Europe completes toroidal field strand qualification
Share the responsibility for the conductor qualification: Alex Vostner (ITER), Carlo Sborchia (European Domestic Agency), and Arnaud Devred, leader of the ITER Superconductor Section.
After the successful test of the fourth European sample EUTF4 in June 2009, the European Domestic Agency signed a first contract for the supply of more than 58 tonnes of niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) strand for the toroidal field conductors with Oxford Superconducting Technology this August. The quantity is equivalent to about 60 percent of the total European Nb3Sn contribution, and with a volume of approximately EUR 40 million, this contract represents one of the largest the European agency has placed so far for the ITER Project.
And there is more good news. This week, the EUTF5 sample made of Nb3Sn strand produced by Bruker EAS in Germany completed 1,000 load cycles with a final current sharing temperature (Tcs) above 6 K, thus meeting ITER's toroidal field conductor design criteria of 5.7 K.
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