Test Facility and Results of ITER PF4 Current Leads

Abstract

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) high-temperature superconducting (HTS) current leads designed and manufactured by Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP), Hefei, China, are used to transmit current to the magnetic coil of the ITER device with lower heat conduction load. PF4 HTS current leads which supply pulse current for PF4 coil are the first pair of all 33 pairs series current leads, have finished its test recently. The cold test was performed in a new test facility in which the current leads were vertically installed, and a dedicated design was added to abate the gravitation produced between the two current leads. Besides the cold test facility, this article will also summarize the major test results, joint resistance, high current-sharing temperature, loss of flow accident (LOFA) time, overheating time, heat conduction loads to 5-K ends, and the consumption of 50-K mass flow.