Fusion for Energy - Tratos Group

Nuclear fusion is deemed one of the options useful to ensure a large-scale, safe, environmentally-friendly and virtually inexhaustible source of energy.

A member of ICAS S.r.l. (Innovation and Consulting on Applied Superconductivity, Società a Responsabilità Limitata) since 2010 the Consortium carries out the vital task of designing and producing the superconducting conductors required to manufacture the magnets used safely contain the plasma in the ITER and the JT-60SA tokamak experimental reactors.

Using Superconducting wires in accordance with IEC TR 61788-20, Tratos has provided cabling and jacketing for approximately 20 km of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) 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.
The TRATOS Cavi S.p.A. factory site of Pieve Santo Stefano (AR – Italy), is used by ICAS to perform all cabling activities plus other dedicated projects.

In the tradition of an innovative company Tratos not only produce the conductors but also design the specialised production lines required to manufacture them:

One is dedicated to the manufacturing of Low Temperature superconducting cables (based mainly on Nb3Sn and NbTi strands) and it is been mainly used for the ITER and the JT-60SA productions.
A second line is dedicated to the production of High Temperature superconducting cables, based mainly on YBCO tapes twisted into Aluminum slotted core: these cables are currently being used for the development of power distribution/transmission lines and for high-field magnets application.
A third cabling line is currently devoted to the manufacturing of the complex cables for the Superconducting links of the Hi-Lumi project at CERN, based on MgB2 wires.
Another line has been setup in order to apply a very thin insulating coating to favour the adhesion of resin during impregnation processes. Additionally, TRATOS is equipped with several extrusion lines for applying both thermoplastic and crosslinked cable insulation.
The newest line is currently devoted to the Non-Destructive tests (Eddy current + Ultrasonic) of long and thick copper tubes, to be used for the manufacturing of the mineral insulated conductors for the In-Vessel Coils of ITER.

Since its inception ICAS have been awarded supply contracts from all over the world and the range of production activities has grown and continues to grow as their experience is recognised International.

Currently, the recognized excellence of ICAS is not limited to superconducting Cable-In-Conduit conductors manufacturing, but covers also other and diversified high technology productions and services.

Working closely with customers Tratos is able to tailor make cables to meet the demands of any application – even the most demanding of all.

INNOVATION – A new high-tech cable with zero resistance and high conductivity.

EXTREME CONDITIONS – A cable technology that can work at extreme temperatures between – 243ºC and -153ºC.

ENGINEERING DESIGN COMPANY – Tratos not only designed and manufactured the superconductor cable but also the equipment to produce it.

The Engineering excellence and Core values of Tratos have been further recognised by ITER who have recently awarded Tratos an order for 132 kV HV cable complying with IEC 60840 which also forms an important part of the Tratos portfolio of products and services.