Fusion for Energy Magazine (F4E News) - 2020

Nuclear Power Industry / Fusion Power Industry

The March, 2020 issue of F4E News reported that a workforce of 1,900 people is working round the clock to conclude the works of the biggest fusion experiment. The walls and floors of the emblematic building which will house the “heart” of the ITER device have come a long way. The Editors of F4E stood a few metres away from
the Tokamak complex to take stock of the progress. It’s hard to concentrate because there is a lot happening: cranes are lifting steel bars, more concrete is being poured, workers wearing their white hardhats are continuously on the move, loaders are moving materials, pipes are inserted in galleries. There are definitely more buildings and facilities ready and the pieces of this construction puzzle are falling into place. Similarly, the manufacturing of components on-site is taking off. More tooling is being assembled in the Assembly Hall, the works are advancing in the Cryostat workshop, the Cryoplant, and the fabrication of magnets is accelerating in the Poloidal Field
coils factory.

It’s a site in fast motion. In spite of the work organized in three shifts it still feels like a race against time. Then again, you have turning points in the construction road map which make you think we are on the right track. We have completed the concrete bioshield cylinder and the concrete crown where the device will be installed. The ITER team recently installed the feeder of ITER’s fourth poloidal field coil – the first of a long list of components for this building. As works are progressing, the construction teams are handing over the buildings to the ITER Organization personnel to start of assembly of various plant systems,” explains Romaric Darbour, Deputy Project Manager for Buildings, Infrastructure and Power Supplies. Towards the end of 2018, F4E delivered formally to the ITER Organization the cooling water infrastructure. 

Read on in the magazine ................