Busbar prototypes tested in Saint Petersburg

In early June at the Efremov Institute of Electrophysical Apparatus (Saint Petersburg, Russia) specialists completed type tests on full-scale prototypes of the DC busbars (10 to 68 кА)—the sizeable, water-cooled components will feed power to ITER's superconducting magnet coils. The series of tests carried out at the Institute were attended by experts from the ITER Organization and ITER Russia.   

 

The high-current busbars that connect tokamak coils with their power supplies, thyristor converters, together with powerful switching devices and resistors for the extraction of energy from the magnet system compose the core part of the electrotechnical equipment to be manufactured and delivered by Russia according to the Procurement Arrangement signed between the ITER Organization and ITER Russia in 2011. Almost all of the equipment is one of a kind and was specially designed for the ITER Project. The Efremov Institute has the responsibility for all design, manufacturing and testing.

 

The tests carried out in Saint Petersburg this spring included a broad array of electric, hydraulic and mechanical tests of the busbars elements that aimed to verify that their parameters matched technical specifications. The tests results confirmed the technical solutions conceived during the design stage, including manufacturing technology. The positive test results now give the green light to the busbar serial production.

 

According to the terms of the Procurement Arrangement, the Efremov Institute will manufacture and ship to the ITER Organization over several years about 5.4 km of busbars with a total weight exceeding 500 tonnes.

 

Watch a video of the prototype tests here.