ORPUS-1 - A pulsed superconducting solenoid

A recent series of reference designs for Tokamak Experimental Power Reactors (EPR's) has indicated that superconducting poloidal field (PF) coils will be necessary for successful operation of these devices. It would also be desirable to use superconducting PF coils in earlier tokamak fusion devices if such coils could be developed quickly enough. In this paper, the PF coil performance requirements are briefly reviewed and some implications for the coil design are developed. A small coil (stored energy 14 kJ) has been built using construction techniques similar to those which could be employed for PF coils. The coil has been charged at rates up to 2 T/sec. Both maximum field and charging rate were limited by available power supplies. Loss measurements were carried out during pulsed operation and data for hysteretic and eddy current loss are presented. The loss measurement system used allows considerable insight into the effects of conductor motion and training.