Conductor schedule respected in Russia

Keeping time with the production and delivery schedule for ITER's toroidal field magnets, Russian industry has shipped its second batch of toroidal field conductor for the year to the European winding facility in La Spezia, Italy.

 

After a first shipment of two 415-metre regular production lengths of niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) superconductor in June, it was the turn of three 760-metre production lengths to be loaded onto trucks on 25 November for the long voyage to Italy.

 

At the La Spezia facility, machines will unspool and straighten the conductor before shaping the continuous, 760-metre conductor lengths into a D-shaped double pancake. The pancakes will then be heat treated at over 650°C, electrically insulated and finally transferred into the grooves of the stainless steel radial plates to form a double pancake module.

 

The Russian Domestic Agency is responsible for 20 percent of toroidal field conductor procurement. Production is ongoing according to the schedule of the Procurement Arrangements. Nine 760-metre and two 415-metre spools have been manufactured and tested and are scheduled to be shipped to Europe at the beginning of next year.