The Russian-made niobium-tin superconductors produced under the Conductor Development Program for the Future Circular Collider (FCC) project of the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) have successfully passed the acceptance test.
While the design and production technology of superconducting wires was developed at the Bochvar Institute in Moscow, the 50 km long wires produced for qualification purposes were manufactured at the Chepetsky Mechanical Factory in Glazov city of the Udmurt Republic, Russia. The institute and the
The successful acceptance test of the superconducting wires produced under the agreement between the fuel company TVEL and CERN means that TVEL is a candidate to become one of the future suppliers of high-efficiency magnetic accelerator programs.
The high performance values of the wires produced by TVEL are in full compliance with CERN specifications. CERN produced Rutherford cables with these wires. The tests yielded record-breaking results for Russian superconductivity technologies, including critical current density in the electromagnetic field, residual resistance ratio and effective wire diameter.
The magnet system is one of the key elements of the “collider of the future”. The significant amount of superconducting wire required by the gigantic dimensions of the FCC, which is approximately 100 km in diameter, can only be supplied as a result of the joint effort of countries with the technology to produce this wire. The evaluations show that the superconductor requirement of the FCC will exceed the current niobium-tin wire production capacity in the world.
FCC, one of the important international science projects planned to be built in Switzerland, will take research in the field of elementary particle physics to a new level. In this sense, the collider will especially help to understand dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry in the observable universe, and other issues that fall outside the framework of the physics theory called the “Standard Model”.
Unlike the superconductors Rosatom produced for the ITER project, the wires produced for the FCC were developed using the “internal tin source” method. With this method, wires with significantly higher critical current density can be produced. Such wires are used in high energy physics systems and magnetic systems for accelerators.
In a on the subject, TVEL President Natalya Nikipelova stated that the researchers and engineers working at TVEL, the fuel unit of Rosatom, have once again proven their “top-class” expertise in the field of superconductivity by developing an advanced performing technology and producing a product based on this technology. .
“We are proud that our superconductors will enable the implementation of important mega-science projects, both Russian and international, such as FCC, ITER, NICA and FAIR. In addition to niobium-tin wires for the Future Collider, we also manufacture niobium-titanium wires and the ultrapure niobium resonator necessary to produce accelerator systems.”
Applied superconductivity is one of the strategically important non-nuclear technological development areas at TVEL. Low-temperature superconducting materials are indispensable for science projects, as well as for the development of modern medical devices such as MR and high and ultra-high resolution analytical equipment such as NMR spectrometry. The development of high-temperature superconducting materials will significantly improve the performance of conventional electrical industry devices.