Co-Wound Superconducting Wire for Quench Detection in Fusion Magnets

High temperature superconducting (HTS) materials are widely utilized in various design proposals for fusion magnets, resulting in enhanced performance of the machines compared to the past. However, a reliable quench detection in HTS conductors remains an open issue. Using a co-wound superconducting wire of high normal state resistance as an electrically insulated and thermally coupled sensor provides strongly increased sensitivity for the voltage-based quench detection methods. Furthermore, resistance of the wire can be practically proportional to the size of the normal zone, even though the location of the hot-spot cannot be identified. We present adaptation of this method for fusion conductors by considering various wire options, such as MgB2 wires in a highly resistive matrix, non-stabilized Nb3Sn wires and (K,Na)-Ba122 wires. The insulated wire of a small diameter (