F4E signs contracts for supply and manufacture of ITER and JT-60SA superconductors

F4E has awarded a contract for cabling and jacketing of approximately 20 km of ITER Toroidal Field (TF) conductors and in the region of 28 km of JT-60SA TF conductors, plus the jacketing of around 22 km of Poloidal Field (PF) conductors.

Worth approximately 49 million EUR, this contract was signed in early December and awarded to the ICAS consortium (ENEA, Tratos Cavi and Criotec) from Italy with duration of five years.

In addition to the cabling and jacketing, ICAS is also responsible for the procurement of the stainless tubes, wraps and central spiral required for the conductors. The copper and Niobium-tin (Nb ₃Sn) superconducting wires (strands) for the ITER TF coils will be supplied by F4E through three existing supply contracts already placed in 2009 to companies Luvata, OST and Bruker EAS GmbH.

The cables for the ITER PF coils will be supplied by the Russian Federation for final jacketing in the frame of a bilateral agreement with F4E. The European contribution to the manufacture of the PF1 and PF6 coil conductors will be approximately one-third, with the Russian ITER Domestic Agency procuring the remaining part.

The schedule, technical aspects and legal issues for a successful implementation of the contract were discussed during the kick-off meeting held between F4E and ICAS which took place at the F4E offices in early January. The next steps are for ICAS to complete the building of the jacketing line, a stand of 800 metres where the jacket assembly and inserting of cable into the jacket takes place.

The 5,100 km copper and 10,200 km Niobium-titanium (NbTi) wire required for the JT-60SA conductors will be procured and supplied by F4E to ICAS through another contract, which has been awarded to Furukawa Electric Co. on 17 December 2010 and is worth approximately 5.8 million EUR. The kick-off meeting between F4E and Furukawa Electric Co. was held in January and the evaluation billet manufacturing phase is currently ongoing.