Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Critical Currents of REBaCuO Superconducting Tapes Considered for Magnets in Fusion Reactors

Critical currents Ic of several commercial REBaCuO superconducting tapes, prepared by various producers, were tested inductively (vibrating sample magnetometer in magnetic fields up to 9 T). Measurements were performed before and after neutron irradiation. Irradiation was conducted in the LVR-15 fission reactor at the Research Centre q̌ež with doses of 1 × 10
²²
m
^-2
and 2.1 × 10
²²
m
^-2
. After irradiation, we observed a slight decrease in Ic around the self-field in all tapes. At higher magnetic fields, neutron irradiation caused a large variation in Ic, with some tapes showing a strong enhancement, some tapes showing a moderate effect, whilst no effect or even an Ic degradation appeared in the remainder. The irradiation effect depended on the pinning medium, measurement temperature, and magnetic field.