ITER 10 Ka HTS Current Lead Passed the Cold Testing

ITER 10 Ka High Temperature Superconductor (HTS) current lead has passed the cold testing on July 4. According to the experiment measurement, the 50K He mass flow rate of nominal current operation is 0.061 g/s/kA which is corresponds to anticipation and superior to the ITER requirement 0.07 g/s/kA. Prof. Yifeng Yang of the Southampton University of U.K, representing the ITER HTS working group, joined this experiment.

As the key component of feeder system, HTS current leads transmit huge power currents from the room temperature terminal to the low temperature superconducting bus-bar for ITER coils. The cold testing of 10 kA HTS lead is a complex process which requires the multi-technologic support involving superconductor, cryogenics, vacuum insulation and high voltage etc. In this experiment, the 10 kA HTS lead is for the first time operated in the correction coil’s (CC) current scenario to find a reasonable 50K He flow regulation and the HTS top temperature evolution of the safety operation. The cold testing of 10 kA HTS lead make a great step towards the design of the PF/CS HTS leads.

The experiment data of 10 kA HTS current lead will further support the final design report (FDR) of ITER HTS leads.  The meeting between ITER IO and CN DA will be held in early September to discuss the final design of HTS lead. （Kaizhong Ding Reports）