Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • Industrial milestone | First cryopump passes all tests

    The serial production of ITER's powerful torus and cryostat cryopumps is progressing at Research Instruments, Germany, on behalf of the European Domestic Agency [...]

    Read more

  • Cryoline installation | Ball joints against earthquakes

    In order to reach clients inside the Tokamak Building, cooling fluids produced by the ITER cryoplant flow through many kilometres of highly sophisticated p [...]

    Read more

  • The changing fusion landscape | ITER hosting private sector workshop

    Take out your smart phone and search your favourite news site for 'nuclear fusion' or 'fusion energy.' On any given day, you will find articles discussing break [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the Week | Advisory committee season

    The 30th Meeting of the ITER Council Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC-30) took place at ITER Headquarters from 13 to 16 May. The Science and Tech [...]

    Read more

  • ITER Design Handbook | Preserving the vital legacy of ITER

    The contributions that ITER is making to fusion physics and engineering—through decades of decisions and implementation—are delivering insights to the fusion co [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Manufacturing

Korea completes a third vacuum vessel sector

A third 40-degree sector of the ITER vacuum vessel has exited the Hyundai Heavy Industries production line in Ulsan, Korea.

The 440-tonne sector sits on its transport platform in the dedicated vacuum vessel workshop at Hyundai Heavy Industries. Once inserted into protective housing it will be ready to ship. (Click to view larger version...)
The 440-tonne sector sits on its transport platform in the dedicated vacuum vessel workshop at Hyundai Heavy Industries. Once inserted into protective housing it will be ready to ship.
Sectors representing one-third of the complex, double-walled chamber that will house the 150-million-degree ITER plasma have been produced in Korea and a fourth sector is in the final stages of manufacturing (> 90 percent complete).

Sector #8, which will ship from Korea this week, will follow the path marked out by Korean sectors #6 and #1(7)—first travelling to ITER by boat, barge and road ... then passing site acceptance testing ... and finally undergoing a series of pre-assembly activities in the Assembly Hall (first in its horizontal shipping position, then once vertical). The final destination for each sector is the ITER Tokamak pit, where the sectors will be supported by in-pit tooling until they are joined by welding.  

At Hyundai Heavy Industries, vacuum vessel series production activities have been underway since the first cutting operation took place on sector #6 in 2012. (Sector #6 was delivered to the ITER Organization in 2020.) With such long manufacturing lead-time, the teams did not waited for one sector to be completed in order to begin on another; instead, the sectors were brought along side by side in tight sequence.

Along the way, the Korean Domestic Agency has worked closely within the Vacuum Vessel Project Team with the other Domestic Agencies involved in the procurement of the vacuum vessel (Europe: five sectors; India: in-wall shielding; Russia: all upper ports).

In the gallery below, see vacuum vessel sector #8 during final D-shape assembly, inspection and packing. In next week's ITER Newsline, we'll include a picture of the 440-sector loaded on the boat that will deliver it to Fos-sur-Mer, France.  

return to the latest published articles