Implementation of the ITER Conductor Database

Abstract

The procurement of the conductor for the ITER Toroidal Field (TF), Central Solenoid (CS), and Poloidal Field (PF) magnet systems will generate a significant amount of raw material and product test data that needs to be managed and analysed in a systematic fashion by the six responsible Domestic Agencies (DAs) and the ITER Organization (IO). To do this, ITER has developed and commissioned a conductor database, modeled after the successful CERN LHC conductor database, that can store, track, and analyse the voluminous data being generated during the production process. The database focuses on the business flow associated with superconducting strand, cabling, jacket sections, jacket assembly, jacketing, and full conductor unit length production. Within the database, individual suppliers can enter and track the performance of both raw materials and finished products, and also monitor the acceptance status of all products sent to their DA. Each DA is given a single portal through which they can manage the progress of each domestic supplier, track product performance results, enter verification test results, approve strand for delivery, and notify IO of production progress. The database can be used for long-term statistical process control of both raw material parameters and final product parameters (like I <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">c</sub> and I <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">hys</sub> ), and also utilizes a sophisticated security scheme to protect the confidentiality of suppliers' proprietary data. Additionally, the database can automatically highlight non-conforming products, and can manage the organization of the documentation for deviation requests and non-conformance reports. Technically, the database is an application of ICP (ITER Collaborative Platform). ICP is a software framework for implementing database-driven applications for the ITER project, and it provides a common web browser interface and data storage architecture developed in ASP.NET and MSSQL.