Design study of superconducting coils for the fusion DEMO plant at JAERI

Isono, Takaaki; Koizumi, Norikiyo; Okuno, Kiyoshi; Kurihara, Ryoichi; Nishio, Satoshi; Tobita, Kenji

In order to realize an economically competitive power generation system, generation of a higher field is required. Toroidal Field (TF) coils of fusion DEMO plant at JAERI are required to generate magnetic field of 16 to 20 T. To realize this high field, advanced superconducting materials, such as NbAl and high temperature superconductor (HTS), are considered. HTS has enough performance in a 20-T field at 4 K, and a forced-cooled type HTS conductor using a silver alloy sheathed Bi-2212 round wire has been proposed. Required areas of superconductor, structure, stabilizer, coolant and insulator in the cross section of coil winding have been calculated. However, there are many technical issues to be solved, such as accurate temperature control during heat treatment in an atmosphere of oxygen. On the other hand, a large coil using NbAl has been developed by JAERI, and major technology to fabricate a 16-T NbAl coil was developed. Validity and issues of grading the winding area are discussed, and there is a possibility to increase a field up to around 17 T using the method.