A toroidal field coil for generating a toroidal magnetic field in a nuclear fusion reactor includes a toroidal plasma chamber having a central column. The toroidal field coil has a plurality of windings configured to pass through the central column and around the outside of the plasma chamber. Each winding includes a cable having a plurality of stacked high temperature superconductor (HTS) tapes, each HTS tape including one or more layers of a high temperature superconductor material. With the toroidal field coil in place in the reactor, a face of each HTS tape is substantially perpendicular to a direction of maximal neutron flux during reactor operation as the cable passes through the center column.