Statistics of Test Results for the ITER Nb3Sn and NbTi Conductors in the SULTAN Facility

The series production of Nb
₃
Sn and NbTi cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC) for the winding of various coils in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) magnet system is being completed in 2015. The tests of the ITER conductor samples are running in the SULTAN test facility in Villigen, Switzerland, in the scope of a framework contract, flanked by six bilateral agreements between IO and the Domestic Agencies (DAs) of China, EU, Korea, Japan, Russian Federation, and USA. The key acceptance parameter of the tests for the conductor samples made from the series production ITER CICCs is the current sharing temperature
$T_\mathrm{cs}$
at the nominal operating field and current after applied electromagnetic cyclic loadings at the nominal field and sinusoidal swing of conductor current from zero to nominal one. The
$T_\mathrm{cs}$
is defined as the maximum temperature at which the conductors operate (nominal current and field) before developing an electric field of 10
$\mu\text{V/m}$
. This paper gathers the latest test results of the ITER series production CICC. The qualified conductor units will be used in the winding of the toroidal field and poloidal field coils, as well as the central solenoid. The test results for the series production conductors are compared with the results of the conductors tested at the early stages of their development. The performance variation among the suppliers and the performance evolution since the start of the conductor production are discussed as well.