Superconducting Feeder System for ITER Central Solenoid Module Final Test Facility

General Atomics has commissioned the final test facility at the central solenoid module (CSM) manufacturing site in Poway, CA, USA. The facility includes a number of critical subsystems including the feeder system (FS), supplied by the Institute of Plasma Physics Chinese Academy of Science (ASIPP), that connects the test chamber to the cryogenic and electrical systems. It includes a coil termination box, high-temperature superconducting current leads, and a feeder duct. The FS carries the current (50 kA) and supercritical helium (4.5 K, 5.5 bara) to the CSM and its supporting structure, while monitoring and controlling the temperature, pressure, flow, and voltage drop through all elements of the superconducting components. It functions as an integral part of the system to rapidly (6-s decay time) dissipates 1-GJ energy stored in the coils, and to protect the cryogenic system. The system is complex, requiring multidisciplinary engineering including: high-temperature superconductivity, cryogenic-temperatures (77, 50, and 4.5 K), high vacuum (1.0 × 10
^-5
Pa), redundant quench detection (voltage, temperature), high-voltage insulation (15 kV), low thermal loads (70 W), low electrical joint resistance (2 nΩ), Paschen testing, high-voltage signal measurements, and high-current electronics. The system presented significant challenges for design and analysis, complex manufacturing assembly processes, measurement and control, and stringent quality and safety requirements.