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The ITER magnet procurement is now well underway. The magnet systems consist of 4 superconducting coil sets (toroidal field (TF), poloidal field (PF), central solenoid (CS) and correction coils (CC)) which use both NbTi and Nb3Sn-based conductors. The magnets sit at the core of the ITER machine and are tightly integrated with each other and the main vacuum vessel. The total weight of the system is about 10000 t, of which about 500 t are Nb3Sn strands and 250 t, NbTi. The reaction of the magnetic forces is a delicate balance that requires tight control of tolerances and the use of high-strength, fatigue-resistance steel forgings. Integration and support of the coils and their supplies, while maintaining the necessary tolerances and clearance gaps, have been completed in steps, the last being the inclusion of the feeder systems. Twenty-one procurement agreements have now been signed with 6 of the ITER Domestic Agencies for all of the magnets together with the supporting feeder subsystems. All of them except one (for the CS coils) are so-called Build to Print agreements where the IO provides the detailed design including full three-dimensional CAD models. The production of the first components is underway (about 175 t of Nb3Sn strand was finished by July 2011) and manufacturing prototypes of TF coil components are being completed. The paper will present a design overview and the manufacturing status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) has 60 high-temperature superconducting (HTS) current leads (CL) which have a nominal current of 68, 55 and 10 kA (depending on the type of magnet they have to supply) and provide a total current of 2.7 MA to the magnet system. The HTS module is a key part of CLs. This paper describes the simulation of the critical current in a multi-layer tape model as well as the special soldering technique developed for the HTS stack. In order to validate this technique, a 10 kA pre-prototype HTS module was made and tested in a setup that reproduces ITER conditions at ASIPP. The paper also briefly describes the overheating time test setup and the results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The superconducting magnet system of ITER has \sim5,000 tons of cold mass as steel structures to support the gravity and electromagnetic forces. These steel structures need to be maintained at \sim4.4 K during magnet operations. The magnet system has three STR (structure) feeders for distribution, monitoring and control of helium to remove heat loads from these large steel structures during cool down and normal operation. One SHe (supercritical helium) circulation pump for flow rate of \sim2.7 kg/s, in a closed loop is used only for cooling of structures, and these 3 STR feeders are part of this loop. Each STR feeder has 3 main components: SCVB (structure cooling valve box), CFT (cryostat feed through) and ICF (in-cryostat feeder). Unlike the coil feeders, STR feeders do not have bus bars, current leads & SBB (“S”-bend box), and present some difference in the design approach. The SCVB is placed outside the enclosure of the nuclear radiation shield and hence contains elements needing maintenance like valves and instruments required for diagnosis and operation of the cooling paths. Each SCVB has to accommodate about 20 valves within a limited available space. Some SHe lines will have running length of about 50 m from SCVB to coil structures, but the layout is such that the use of expansion joints can be avoided. The details of the design approach and analysis results will be presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Now that ITER is entering construction, many of its systems are in the final stages of design and analysis. Among them the 31 feeders, which will be supplied in-kind by the Chinese ITER partner. The feeders supply the electrical power and cryogens through the warm-cold barrier to the ITER superconducting magnet systems. They are complex systems with their independent cryostats and thermal shields, densely packed with many components, such as the current feeds, the cryogenic valves and High-Voltage (HV) instrumentation hardware. Some of the feeder components are particularly critical and have been designed with great care. Among them the High-Temperature Superconductor (HTS) current leads, designed for unprecedented currents, the 30 kV class, Paschen-hard HV insulation and the bus bar support system, designed to react the multi-ton Lorentz-forces from the bus bars at minimal heat load. This paper discusses the design challenges for these (and other) key components of the ITER magnet feeders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ITER magnet system is to be operated at about 4.5 K. It has 31 feeders for high-current power supply, helium distribution and instrumentation cable routing. The feeders (except the smaller ones which are for instrumentation only) are 25 to 30 m long for about 40 tons. They have 3 main components: coil terminal box-cum-S-bend box (CTB-SBB), Cryostat feedthrough (CFT) and in-cryostat feeder (ICF). The CTB is the feeder component placed farthest from the coil (about 25 m away from the magnet center) and outside the bio-shield (the nuclear radiation restriction wall) so that it can be easily accessible in case the critical elements placed within it need maintenance: high-temperature superconducting current leads (HTSCL), large number of cryogenic control valves and pressure-release valves for quench protection. This paper explains the cryogenic design that considers these factors and main components. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ITER has a large superconducting magnet system with about 10,000 tons of cold mass to be maintained at about 4.5 K during magnet operation. This cold mass has to be cooled down from \sim300 to 4.5 K simultaneously and uniformly to avoid high thermal stress. More than 5,000 tons of cold mass corresponds to steel structures to support the gravity and electromagnetic forces. A controlled cool down is necessary to avoid high thermal stress in these materials. The variations of hydraulic impedances and cold masses of different magnet components play a major role in making the cool down non-uniform if appropriate control strategies are absent. A detailed analysis has been done to quantify the factors preventing a uniform cool down. The slowest cooling component will dictate the cool down rate of the whole magnet system. The analysis finds the maximum cool down rates possible for different components and controlled flow rate required for different components to have uniform cool down of all components. Based on this, the cool down rates and duration have been found. This paper will discuss details of these analysis results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ITER Magnet System contains 18 Toroidal Field Coils (TFC). These are large D-shaped coils of about 300 t, 17.5-m height and 9-m width. They consist of a Winding Pack (WP) enclosed in a rigid structural steel case, the Toroidal Field Coil Case (TFCC). The WP is a bonded structure of 7 Double Pancakes (DP), each made up of a radial plate (RP) housing the reacted Nb3Sn cable-in-conduit superconductor (CICC), which operate at 4.5 K in supercritical helium. The conductor carries a current of 68 kA in operation to produce a nominal peak field of 11.8 T. The total stored magnetic energy in the 18 TFCs is 41 GJ. While the Japanese and European Domestic Agencies that are in charge of the procurement of the TFCs are progressing with the manufacturing design and the fabrication trials prior to launch the production of the real coils, the ITER Organization (IO) is completing the development and qualification of the most critical items, e.g. cyanate ester and resin blends for the conductor and WP insulation system, the terminal region, the helium inlet, a charged resin system for the filling of the gap between the WP and the TFCC and the general tolerancing especially at the interfaces between the neighboring systems. This paper presents the final design of the TFCs and the results of the developments carried out in the aforementioned areas in the last 2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) superconducting magnet system requires current supplies from 10 kA to 68 kA. The components relating the electrical power and cryogens through the warm-cold barrier to the ITER magnets are the so-called feeders. In total there are 31 such feeders for the ITER magnet system, 9 of them necessary for the toroidal field magnet system are called TF feeders. Each feeder consists of three main units: the In-Cryostat Feeder (ICF), the Cryostat Feed-Through (CFT) and the S-Bend Box (SBB)/Coil Terminal Box (CTB) assembly. This paper presents the latest design of the TF feeder components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear radiation levels, magnetic fields and general access restrictions in the ITER Tokamak are such that it is undesirable to place remote control helium supply valves close to the coils. The Coil Terminal Boxes (CTB), which are further away from the coils, are therefore designed for easy access and contain as much as possible the components needing maintenance, such as the cryo-valves. The CTBs also house the electrical cold-warm transitions with the HTS current leads and the NbTi feeder busbars. Also most of the feeder instrumentation is located in the CTB. Based on the functional specification by ITER, ASIPP has manufactured and tested a prototype CTB for the ITER magnet system. This test allowed for the verification of the mechanical design of the cryostat and the thermal shield design. Following a discussion of the ITER CTB design, with particular emphasis on the concepts of flow distribution for the large ITER magnet system, considering safety and maintenance, this paper will also present the results of the prototype CTB development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Solenoid (CS) of the ITER tokamak has to provide the flux variation needed to induce the plasma current and to shape the field lines in the divertor region. It is designed as a stack of 6 identical coils, independently power supplied. Repulsing forces arising between the coils during a scenario are withstood by a precompression structure installed around the coils. Studies were carried out to simplify the winding manufacture, to optimize the precompression structure and procedure, to optimize the stack assembly of the 6 coils and the assembly of the central solenoid inside the tokamak which allows withdrawal from the machine, while meeting the ITER design criteria and in particular the Magnet Structural Design Criteria (static and fatigue). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) current leads provide the transition of the current transfer system from room temperature to the 4.5 K. For the ITER superconducting magnet system, a total of 60 HTS current leads are required, with a total nominal current capacity of 2.64 MA. By the use of HTS leads significant power savings can be achieved during the operation of the ITER magnet system. Based on the functional specification by the ITER Organization (IO), ASIPP manufactured and tested a first pair of trial HTS current leads for the ITER coils. The cryogenic test of these 68 kA and 52 kA trial HTS leads was performed at ASIPP using the cryo-plant and power supplies of the EAST Tokamak. The following paper presents the results of the tests and concludes with a discussion of the design features of the next generation prototype of the ITER HTS leads based on the results of the trial lead tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we report the main test results obtained on the Poloidal Field Conductor Insert coil (PFI) for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), built jointly by the EU and RF ITER parties, recently installed and tested in the CS Model Coil facility, at JAEA-Naka. During the test we (a) verified the DC and AC operating margin of the NbTi Cable-in-Conduit Conductor in conditions representative of the operation of the ITER PF coils, (b) measured the intermediate conductor joint resistance, margin and loss, and (c) measured the AC loss of the conductor and its changes once subjected to a significant number of Lorentz force cycles. We compare the results obtained to expectations from strand and cable characterization, which were studied extensively earlier. We finally discuss the implications for the ITER PF system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The first 2 years of the ITER IO has seen substantial progress towards the construction of the magnets, in three main areas. Firstly, the design has been developed under the conflicting constraints to minimise construction costs and to maximise plasma physics performance. Building construction momentum while updating the design to take account of new physics assessments of the coil requirements has been challenging. Secondly, with a stabilising design, it has been possible for the Domestic Agencies to launch the first industrial procurement contracts. And thirdly, critical R&D to confirm the performance of the Nb3Sn cable in conduit design is proceeding successfully. The design consolidation has been accompanied by design reviews involving the international community. The reviews conducted by magnet experts have enabled a consensus to be built on choosing between some of the design options in the original ITER basic design in 2001. The major design decisions were to maintain the circular Nb3Sn conductor embedded in radial plates for the toroidal field (TF) coils and to maintain NbTi-based conductors for the PF coils. Cold testing, at low current, is also being introduced for quality control purposes for all coils. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An R&D program is being carried out in view of the qualification of the Toroidal Field (TF) coil conductor. It consists of an extensive characterization of several Nb3Sn strand candidates, the cabling of those strands into prototype TF conductors with various combinations of twist pitch and void fraction and the measurement of the performance of conductor short samples in representative condition of transport current, magnetic field and temperature. Industries and laboratories are involved worldwide in this R&D program which is expected to provide the basis to finalize the TF conductor design. The Nb3Sn strands proposed by each of the six Participant Teams involved in the procurement of the TF conductor will then be qualified in the final cable configuration by the successful test of a short sample in the Sultan facility. The status and the first results of the R&D program are presented together with the qualification plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Procurement of the ITER magnets is due to start at the end of 2007/early 2008, with the launch of the longest lead time items, the Nb3 Sn conductor and the TF coil windings. The base design for procurement was established in 2001, and the build up of the Cadarache ITER team has been accompanied by a review of the most critical, or controversial, features of the 2001 design. At the same time, an urgent R&D program has been launched to complete the necessary verification of the design solutions that are proposed. In this paper an overview will be presented of the main design features and drivers, and some of the recent issues and R&D results will be summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current design of the ITER Toroidal Field coils and structures, the main critical design and manufacturing issues, and the status of the procurement arrangements for these components, which will be released to the ITER parties in early 2008 to start the manufacturing contracts, are described. Some qualification and R&D work still required in preparation for the manufacture are also mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ITER coils are all designed using superconducting conductors with a high current carrying capability. Plasma operation and control requires fast variation of the currents in the pulsed coils inducing more than 10 kV during normal operation on the coil terminals. The power supplies are designed to limit the high voltages, but under short conditions, voltages may rise above 20 kV in certain coils. Moreover, the acceptance tests of the coils must be carried out at higher voltages, up to 28 kV for the CS coils. The electrical design philosophy of the coils includes recovery options in the event of electrical faults internal to the coils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The DC performance of the so-called Good Joint Nb3Sn Short Sample conductor, measured in the SULTAN facility in 1999 with a progressively reduced (chopped) joint length, became worse as the joint became shorter. In this paper we present the analysis of those tests using the THELMA code. The results confirm quantitatively that the loss of performance was due to increasingly unbalanced current distribution. Once the unbalance due to the joint is properly modeled, the performance of the conductor can be fitted using the same extra longitudinal strain in the critical current scaling, proportional to the electromagnetic load but independent of the joint length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss the predictive analysis performed in support of the test program of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Poloidal Field Conductor Insert (PFCI). A subset of the test program items was considered, with particular emphasis on DC performance and AC losses. The results and implications of the comparison of selected predictions from different laboratories will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the causes for the premature voltage development of superconducting magnet central solenoid insert coil. Variation of strand current and field; Nonuniform current distribution; Self-magnetic field effects.

Describes the design of the Nb[sub 3]Sn and NbTi cable-in-conduit conductors of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor magnets. Optimization of the amount of superconducting strand; Conductor thermohydraulic analysis; Consideration of non-uniform current distribution among superconducting strands; Conductor design rules; Heat deposition; Conductor parameters.

This arc model was motivated by the need to model arcs during the failure of a large superconducting magnet following an unmitigated quench. During a quench, resistive heating raises the conductor and insulator temperature. Electrical and mechanical properties change and inline and bypass arcs can form. The arcs are sustained by the massive (gigaJoule) stored magnetic energy. As windings are bypassed by shorts, the inline arc current and hence, arc diameter, increases. Cable-in-conduit conductors limit the maximum arc column diameter and when limited, the arc properties change rapidly as the arc changes from a free arc to a confined arc. For arc current 10–100 kA we calculate the arc column electrical properties and temperature, by solving a set of equations describing the arc physics. The equations describe the arc column heating, gas ionisation, heat loss and electrical properties. By constraining the maximum arc column diameter in the solution, the transition between free and confined arc can be calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active mitigation of pulsed heat load is foreseen for the ITER superconducting magnets during cyclic plasma scenarios to ensure stable operation of the cryoplant. The paper addresses a promising feedback control to smooth heat pulses in the primary cryogenic circuits of the ITER magnets. A feedback control signal is proposed that can be derived from direct measurements of helium parameters in a low pressure return cryoline to the cryoplant. Configurations with two or more LHe baths were investigated at the Auxiliary Cold Box (ACB) level. Efficiency of the proposed control approach was evaluated in thermohydraulic simulations. A possibility to control several cryogenic loops using a common regulator is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large amount of energy is stored in ITER superconducting magnet system. Faults which initiate a discharge are typically mitigated to quickly transfer away the stored magnetic energy for dissipation through a bank of resistors. In an extreme unlikely occurrence, an unmitigated fault event represents a potentially severe discharge of energy into the coils and the surrounding structure. A new simulation tool has been developed for the detailed study of these unmitigated fault events. The tool integrates: the propagation of multiple quench fronts initiated by an initial fault or by subsequent coil heating; the 3D convection and conduction of heat through the magnet structure; the 3D conduction of current and Ohmic heating both along the conductor and via alternate pathways generated by arcing or material melt. Arcs linking broken sections of conductor or separate turns are simulated with a new unconstrained arc model to balance electrical current paths and heat generation within the arc column in the multi-physics model. The influence under the high Lorenz forces present is taken into account. Simulation results for an unmitigated fault in a poloidal field coil are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]