ITER – Latest tests show positive conductor performance
ITER Newsline – Latest tests show positive conductor performance
By Sabina Griffith | 24 February 2012
The performance degradation problem that was found in a conductor for ITER’s Central Solenoid last year seems to be solved. As part of a comprehensive R&D program that was launched following unsatisfactory test results, a new conductor was fabricated; recent tests performed at the SULTAN Test Facility in Switzerland show good results. The new conductor sample was submitted to 10,000 magnetic load cycles and two warm-up / cool-down cycles, mimicking one-sixth of the full operational life of ITER’s Central Solenoid. “Compared to the tests performed last year, the conductor now shows a level of degradation much closer to that originally anticipated in the design, and the rate of degradation with magnetic cycling is stabilizing,” explains Neil Mitchell, head of ITER’s Magnet Division.
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