REBCO Supply and Qualification

The breeder needs qualified coated-conductor tape in long lengths with consistent properties — a supply-chain and testing program, not a purchase order.

From commercial tape to fusion magnet

REBCO tape is commercially available, but a fusion magnet needs it qualified: consistent critical current over long lengths, verified mechanical properties, controlled joint quality, and behavior under the machine's radiation and thermal environment. Qualification is a program that runs alongside the magnet design.

What is tested

• Critical current uniformity along each tape length.
• Mechanical strength and strain tolerance of the substrate stack.
• Joint resistance and repeatability.
• Property changes under representative neutron and gamma dose.

Why it paces the fleet

The FOAK, NOAK, and BOAK units require repeatable magnets, which requires repeatable tape. A single excellent coil is not enough; the supply must deliver consistent material across many coils and units. This makes tape supply a learning-curve item — one of the reasons the breeder is built as a sequence rather than a one-off.

Honest position

We treat magnet supply as an open engineering and supply-chain risk, folded into the magnet gate. The field level is aggressive, the conductor is available, and the work is to prove that qualified tape and repeatable winding can meet the design at scale.

Lot traceability

Each tape lot is traced from vendor through acceptance to its position in a coil, so if a length underperforms in service its origin and neighbors are known. Traceability turns a single bad length from a mystery into a bounded problem, and it is part of what makes the FOAK-to-BOAK learning curve possible across many nominally-identical magnets.

This page documents a design and simulation study, not a built machine. Construction begins Q2 2027; first-of-a-kind first tritium is targeted near 2030. Figures are computed, reproducible targets, not measurements.