Construction of the ITER magnet systems has been started at the end of 2007 following the signature of the first procurement arrangements (PA) for the toroidal field (TF) conductors. Six ITER members are involved in the share of the ITER magnet components and, to date, eighteen PA between the ITER Organization and six domestic agencies have been signed. Substantial progress towards full-scale construction has been achieved with the placement of the first large manufacturing contracts, the production of several tens of tons of advanced Nb 3 Sn and NbTi strand, and the setup of large cabling and jacketing facilities. The detailed design of the coils and support structures has also been finalized. The qualification of the fabrication processes for the TF coils and poloidal field (PF) coils has been initiated. The detailed design of the central solenoid (CS) coils is being developed. The design of the correction coils (CCs) with their support structures has been finalized, as well as for the TF gravity supports and clamps of the PF coils. The manufacture of prototypes of the feeder lines and current leads has been started, while ITER is in charge of the procurement of the required magnet instrumentation. This paper provides a progress report on the ITER magnet construction as per December 2010.
Superconductors for the ITER Poloidal Field Coils are large cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) made of NbTi strands encased in a round-in-square stainless steel jacket. Three prototype conductor sections for poloidal field coils PF1/6, PF2/3/4 and PF5 have been fabricated in collaboration of the domestic RF, CN and EU agencies and tested in SULTAN Test Facility at the nominal operating conditions.The test aimed to characterize the DC and AC behavior of the conductors. The DC test was focused on the current sharing temperature at the nominal operating current and nominal operating background field. The take-off electric field at the nominal Helium mass flow rate was investigated versus the cable current density over a broad range of field and temperature. The AC loss measurement was performed before any electromagnetic loading and after a number of load cycles in order to define the impact of cyclic loads on the coupling currents constant of the cable.From the test results in SULTAN test facility, the margins in normal operation and the limits of the operation range of the ITER PF conductors are assessed.
The ITER Poloidal Field (PF) magnet system consists of six coils. Niobium-Titanium (NbTi) is used as superconducting material and cable-in-conduit conductor(CICC) type are used as a conductor. All coils are fabricated by stacking 6 to 9 double-pancakes wound by two-in-hand winding scheme. The six PF coils (PF1 to PF6) are attached to the Toroidal Field (TF) coil cases through flexible plates or sliding supports to allow small radial and vertical displacements. The outer diameters of the coils vary between 8 m and 24 m. Since the PF coil system provides magnetic field for plasma shaping and position control together with the Central Solenoid (CS) coil, it needs to operate in fast pulse mode, leading to induced voltages of up to 14 kV on the coil terminals during operation.PF coils will be procured by the European and Russian domestic agencies under separate procurement arrangements (PA). Manufacturing design, equipment installation including design and commissioning, and component qualification are the required first steps before entering series production. This paper presents the updated design for manufacturing of components such as tail, joint, clamp and protection cover. Their fabrication and assembly methods are also described. The paper concludes with a summary states report on component qualification program.
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