Status of the development program of a 60 kA HTSC current lead for the ITER toroidal field coils

In the frame of the European Fusion Technology Programme, FZK Karlsruhe and CRPP Villigen have started a development program for the design and construction of a 60 kA current lead for the ITER toroidal field coils using high temperature superconductors. The task is composed of four parts: material selection based on test results of 1 kA current leads; construction and test of a 10 kA and a 20 kA lead using the selected HTSC material; giving proof of the modularity and scaleability of the design; and finally construction and test of a 60 kA current lead which will replace an existing conventional lead in the TOSKA facility at FZK. As result of part one, Bi-2223 tapes electrically stabilized by AgAu material were selected for the further development program. Two 10 kA HTSC modules using different conductor designs have been manufactured in industry and are being fabricated in the institute. The paper describes the status of the development program. Experimental results of the first step and first results of the 10 kA HTSC lead are given.