SOURCES AND METHODS OF FUNDING

In general and as seen in Table 6.1, all of Japan's conductor development projects are related to government-or electrical power industry-supported large feasibility test projects such as Super-GM. A part of each project is devoted to development of the conductors required for the project's particular devices. Although each government-sponsored project initiates the development of a particular conductor and pays private manufacturing companies for the development, it is generally thought that the expenses of conductor development are primarily borne by the manufacturing companies. In addition to large-project-related conductor developments, there are a couple of developments internally supported by industry, as shown in Table 6.1. One of these, the development of Nb₃Sn conductors by Kobe Steel, Ltd., appears to have made a significant contribution toward the company's successful commercialization of high field magnets for high frequency (>700 MHz) nuclear magnetic resonance. Due to the high quality of its conductors, i.e., high J_c and a sharp transition in the I-V curves, Kobe Steel appears to be able to compete effectively in a market that has been dominated for a number of years by Oxford Instruments in England.