Overview and Assembly Strategy of the VNS Magnet System: Innovations and Challenges

Le résumé fourni par la source

The Volumetric Neutron Source (VNS) is a steady-state tokamak designed to bridge the technological gap between ITER and DEMO by enabling full-scale testing of tritium breeding blankets and other fusion reactor components under DEMO-relevant conditions. The VNS magnet system features an innovative magnetic cage architecture, where the superconducting poloidal field (PF) coils are located inside the toroidal field (TF) coils. This configuration significantly improves plasma equilibrium and controllability, reducing the required PF currents and stored energy while enhancing machine compactness and plasma shaping efficiency. This paper provides an overview of the concept behind the VNS magnet system. TF and PF coils employ dry conductors with High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS). Emphasis is placed on the assembly strategy, which involves in-situ TF coil winding around pre-installed PF coils and vacuum vessel components. The paper concludes with a description of the TF Winding Pack (WP), which features a flexible conductor design to facilitate in-situ assembly, along with the numerical analyses that support its layout.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.