Progress of ITER Feeder System Electrical Insulation Qualification

The ITER Feeder is an important subsystem, which transmits the electrical power to the ITER Tokamak magnet system. In the Feeder, all the HV potential components, including the current leads, the busbars, and the joints, need to be insulated with solid composite materials to electrically isolate the HV potential from ground. Based on over three years of preliminary qualification and experimental comparison, the prepreg tape and relevant curing techniques were finally chosen as the formal feeder insulation material and method. The formal insulation qualification was launched, including the material qualification and the component qualification. Now the static tensile/shear strength, the fatigue tensile strength, the compression-shear strength, the push-out strength and the void content test for the prepreg material qualification has been completed. This paper describes the whole research improvement of ITER feeder electrical insulation qualification activities, introduces the selection of procured materials and the manufacturing trials, and summarizes the formal qualification items and their test results.