Europe completes its share of poloidal field conductors

The last European-produced conductor length for ITER's poloidal field coils was completed at the ICAS*/Criotec facility in Italy in early July.

Poloidal field conductor is made of more than 1,400 niobium-titanium (NbTi) superconducting strands that are bound together to form a cable, which is then inserted into a stainless steel jacket, compacted and finally spooled. The conductor was produced from NbTi strand manufactured by JSC ChMp (Chepetsk Mechanical Plant) and cable manufactured by JSC VNIIKP (Joint Stock Company All-Russia Research Institute for Cable Industry).

Six ring-shaped poloidal field magnets will encircle the ITER vacuum vessel and toroidal field magnet structure to shape the plasma and contribute to its stability by "pinching" it away from the walls. Europe is contributing 18 percent of poloidal field conductor; the rest will be supplied by China (62 percent) and Russia (20 percent). The conductor produced in Italy will be used for the sixth poloidal field coil (PF6), which will be fabricated in China under the terms of an agreement concluded with Europe. Out of 18 conductor lengths required for the manufacture of PF6, 10 conductor lengths will be delivered by Europe and 8 by Russia.

The European conductor will now undergo final testing before being shipped to China.

*ICAS: Italian Consortium for Applied Superconductivity (ENEA, Tratos Cavi, Criotec)