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26 May 2008 - #33

News

MAC certifies "visible achievements"

The MAC members taking a tour around the ITER construction site. “The schedule was aggressive, but not achievable.” Bob Iotti, Chairman of the ITER Management Advisory Committee (MAC), could not resist making this ironic comment on the fact that lunch took a bit longer that day than expected. It could have been understood differently though.

 Due to the intensive discussions the meeting was running behind schedule, so Norbert Holtkamp allowed the attendees not more than 10 minutes for the buffet lunch break. When the ITER Principal Deputy Director General finally clapped his hands together to hurry everybody back to the conference table in the Salle de la Fernière at the Chateau in Cadarache, half an hour had passed.

Iotti's remark was greeted with loud laughter as that Wednesday morning Norbert Holtkamp had presented the new bottom-up project schedule, “an aggressive, but credible project schedule, which permits assessment of the consequences of any action taken by the project”, as Iotti later summarized the “very intensive” two day meeting, which included a joint session with the Science and Technology Advisory committee (STAC).

In its draft final report, the MAC concluded that the ITER project has made “remarkable progress” since the last MAC meeting. “Visible achievements have been made in finalizing the design as well as in development and implementation of management systems and most of the administrative systems. A few technical design issues, recommended by the STAC, remain to be addressed, but the overall progress since the last ITER Council meeting has been very substantial and gratifying.” The committee was particularly encouraged with the effective cooperation between the ITER Organization and the Domestic Agencies through the IO/DA Coordination meeting, Iotti said, “which paves the way for an even closer interaction”. 

Shinto blessing for IFMIF site in Rokkasho

Special events require special measures: Pascal Garrin (second from right) paving the way for IFMIF. On 21 May 2008 the Broader Approach site in Rokkasho experienced a rare celebration: the company in charge of safety for the construction of the buildings organized, on behalf of JAEA, the “anzenkigansai” ceremony a groundbreaking ceremony following an old Shinto ceremony aiming to provide good auspices all along the construction phase.

An old Shintiu Ceremony shall help to keep bad vibes out. Many personalities from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology within the Aomori Prefecture, the Rokkasho village, the JAEA and the Permanent Representation of European Commission in Japan attended this important and picturesque event.

--- Pascal Garin, IFMIF/EVEDA Project Leader

French Fishermen braced for more action this week

Filling the car’s tank is one of those menial chores which do not require much planning or thinking. Except when fishermen, faced with soaring fuel prices, decide to blockade the oil refineries in the Marseilles area, where 30 % of the country's total refining capacity is situated, to put pressure on the government. (Taxes amount to 50 to 60% of the price at the pump.)

As a consequence, starting last Wednesday afternoon, shortages - and a bit of paranoia - led to long queues in front of the service stations until the stations themselves ran dry. In some places, the situation got so tense that the authorities had to prohibit the filling of jerrycans.

Cars queing in front of a petrol station in La Rochelle last week. Despite the government’s decision to release a 110 million euros “emergency package”, fishermen held on, and on Thursday noon, riot police had to be sent to “liberate” the refineries. Friday morning, it was back to square one: refineries had been “retaken” and would remain “occupied” until the government guaranteed fishermen would pay their diesel fuel 0.40 € per litre instead of 0.70.

Michel Barnier, the French minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, agreed to the fishermen’s demand – a decision which, in Brussels’ view, amounts to “a subsidy in disguise”. On Monday things were back to normal. But the fishermen’s “base”, now in disagreement with their leadership, were bracing for “new actions” in the course of the week.

---Robert Arnoux

Focus On

The Broader Approach

The Broader Approach Activities aim at supporting the ITER project and at an early realization of fusion as a clean and sustainable source of energy for peaceful purposes. They comprise the following three large research projects to be jointly implemented:

The two last projects are located in Rokkasho, Aomori prefecture in Japan. They involve several “Voluntary Contributing Countries” in Europe, the JAEA and several Universities in Japan. They are implemented through the Domestic Agencies created in the framework of the ITER Treaty: Fusion for Energy in Europe and JAEA in Japan.
This agreement is open to other ITER Parties. Applicable conditions will be presented at the next ITER Council to be held in Aomori city mid-June 2008.

Picture of the Week

ITER Vacuum Group introducing "Gas Roulette"

It may look like play but the latest model produced by the EU checking out the complex gas routes around the ITER divertor takes about one day of high speed computer time to run.  The ITER Vacuum Section is thus working on a proposal for a more accurate model which will allow optimising the design of components in the divertor region for compatibility with the vacuum pumping.  The new model is likely to take four days to run giving plenty of time for others to try a game of “Gas Roulette”.

On site

Designed to take the floods

Talking about rainfall: in order to make sure that ITER does not get washed away by the odd flood, two storm basins have been erected on site. One basin with a capacity of 6000 m3 and a second one which can hold 13.000 m3 will make sure that the ITER facilities covering about 60 hectares of land won’t get washed away even in case of persistent, heavy rainfall. The capacity of the two basins and the connected release pipes have been calculated both on the basis of rainfall statistics gathered over the past hundred years which were then extrapolated, and the given topography on the ITER site.

One of the two stormbasins that will hold the floods in case of the -rare - rainfall event.The second basin will be close to the future waste water sewage plant to be built in 2009 and the future cooling water control basins, for which construction will start later this year. The works related to the rainwater drainage will be finished this July.

--- Iris Rona

Fusion World

Supersize me or Facing the Devil

Size matters, especially when dealing with fusion machines. But when the picture below was taken, in the late fifties at Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris, where French CEA operated an embryonic “fusion service”, no one had yet figured the importance of the “scaling laws” : plasma volume in TA-2000 was a fraction of a cubic meter – ITER’s will be close to 1 000 m3  – and chances for fusion reactions were exceedingly low.

Not that the physicists operating this early “toroïdal pinch” machine really expected them, says Jean Jacquinot, the former head of fusion research at CEA, who started working at Fontenay in 1961 . “TA-2000's main accomplishment was to demonstrate how ignorant all of us were about plasma physics. We understood the individual behaviour of particles, but we didn’t have the slightest notion about their collective comportment. We didn’t know there was a Devil in the plasma...” Instabilities, “dreadful confinement”, were the names of that Devil. Spectrograph operators would ask the machine operators if they had not, by accident, mixed “coal” with hydrogen, for the spectrograms showed more carbon atomic lines than anything else – an evidence that the plasma was in violent contact with the Pyrex walls of the machine.

--- Robert Arnoux

Portrait

The Mayor who became a Power Supply Engineer

"I really felt I could bring something to the ITER project"- Jerry Goff. After leaving school, Jerry Goff served an apprenticeship with the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell and was involved in building the Bundle Divertor power supplies on the DITE fusion experiment at Culham in 1978. He moved to JET in 1982 where he was involved in commissioning, operations and maintenance of the JET power supplies until he moved to Cadarache earlier this year.

In 1987 Jerry became an active Trade Union representative in UKAEA, eventually becoming a Branch Secretary. In domestic life he took interest in local politics, was elected to the Town Council of Didcot, a town about 10 km south of Oxford, and even became town Mayor in 2001.  But when he was offered the opportunity to join ITER he didn’t have to think very long.  “Having been in fusion for so long, I really felt I could bring something to the ITER project,” says Jerry,” and at the same time it is a challenging new project in my own career.

At ITER Jerry works in the Coil Power Supply Section of Electrical Engineering Division within CEP Department. He supports the Section in analysis and design work, especially with regard to control and protection of the ITER magnet power supplies and will soon start working on the technical requirements for the Procurement Arrangements.

Conferences

26-30 May
18th International Conference on Plasma Surface Interactions in Controlled Fusion Devices
Toledo, Spain
PSI-18 - Plasma Surface Interactions in Controlled Fusion Devices

9-13 June
35th European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics
Hersonissos (Crete), Greece
35th European Physical Society Conference on Plamsa Physics

16-19 June
35th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS2008)
Karlsruhe, Germany
E-mail: manfred.thummihm.fzk.ge

16 - 19 June 2008
Plasma Physics and Technology, 23rd Symposium
Prague, Czech Republic
Plasma Physics and Technology, 23rd Symposium

7 - 18 July 2008
45th Culham Plasma Physics Summer School
Culham Science Centre, UK
45th Culham Plasma Physics Summer School

22 -25 July 2008
2nd ITER Summer School
Kyushu University, Japan
2nd ITER Summer School

1-12 September 2008
2nd Karlsruhe International Summer School on Fusion Technologies
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany
summerschool-fusion/

1 - 4 September 2008
13th EU-US TTF Workshop
Copenhagen, Denmark
13th EU-US TTF Workshop

8 - 12 September
International Congress on Plasma Physics
Fukuoka, Japan
ICPP 2008 - Intl Congress on Plasma Physics

15 - 19 September
Twenty-Fifth Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2008)
Rostock, Germany
SOFT-2008

28 September - 2 October
ANS Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE2008)
San Francisco, USA
TOFE 2008

13 - 18 October
22nd IAEA Fusion Energy Conference
50th Anniversary of Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research
Geneva, Switzerland
22nd IAEA Fusion Conference

Newsline Editor

The ITER Newsline is produced by Sabina Griffith. Suggestions for future articles, comments and corrections, as well as items for the calendar are welcome, and can be sent to sabina.griffith@iter.org.

Director's Corner

Forging agreement on a common goal:
to build ITER

"It won't get boring" says Norbert Holtkamp.With four top level meetings in a row, the Scientific and the Management Advisory Committees, the Contact Persons Working Group and finally, the meeting between the ITER Organization and Directors and representatives from the seven Domestic Agencies, I am not exaggerating when I say that this last week has been long and very intense. The discussions we had within these different committees, however heated and difficult they might have been at some stages, proved to be consistently constructive and focused on the overall advancement of the ITER project. This is collaboration at work, even if it may look different sometimes! The common motivation to build ITER as fast as possible catalyses agreement even when it appears impossible.

Over the past six months the project has made visible progress finalizing the design of ITER by addressing major issues that the Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC) wanted to see resolved before moving on to construction. We presented the result of this endeavour to the STAC members who expressed their satisfaction at the ITER Organization’s approach. The committee recommends that the design changes should now be incorporated in the revised ITER technical baseline design and then transmitted to the ITER Council for approval this June.

The two day Management Advisory Committee (MAC) followed, including a joint session with the STAC on Wednesday morning. In this meeting we presented a new reference project schedule which has been developed together with the Domestic Agencies over the last nine months in a series of workshops where we went through the construction and installation process in great detail. “Realistic but aggressive” was  the MAC verdict. A presentation followed of the resources needed to meet the new reference project schedule.  With little time to spend and a lot of information provided, the MAC concluded that the ITER Organization had done a good job responding to the request to assess resources, but that it needed more time to fully understand the reply. Frank Briscoe, expert adviser to the European MAC delegation, was charged with carrying out an in-depth review of the cost assessment over the next two months.

On Friday and Saturday, the Contact Person Working Group (CPWG) worked with great rigour on the preparation of the ITER Council meeting in June in Aomori. Another important step was taken during this meeting: the Test Blanket Module Programme,  not yet part of the ITER construction project, will be included providing that the Council accepts our proposal. The Test Blanket Module Programme has always been an ITER mission. Now that the programme has matured it is ready to come under the umbrella of the ITER Agreement.

Finally, yesterday, the ITER Organization met the Heads of the Domestic Agencies and their delegates. These IO-DA meetings are key for the successful implementation of all recommendations and requests. We went through another long day together making sure that construction continues according to plan and that components are being built on schedule.

After all these discussions with the various advisory bodies, the message is clear: make it cheaper, make it faster and make it better! Both the IO and the Domestic Agencies got the message loud and clear and we will come up with appropriate proposals. So, one thing is for sure: the next six months won’t be boring.

Norbert Holtkamp is the ITER Principal Deputy Director General

Links

New chart of the ITER Organization available

The ITER Organization has published an updated chart of its organizational structure. The file can be downloaded here...

ITER on the air

If you are interested in the ITER project progress, then listen to the programme “Les nouvelles d’ITER”. the programme is broadcasted every Friday at 17h on Radio Verdon, in French and English. You can listen to interviews with ITER staff members, news, portraits, features…all covering the various aspects of the ITER project. The programme is repeated every Saturday at 08h30. A summary of all the programmes broadcasted so far can be found on www.radio-verdon.com.

--- Veronique Marfaing

ITER on TV

The local Television company TLP is producing a series of short documentaries about the ITER project called "Under the ITER sun".

To watch it click here.

The perfect (oil) storm

The perfect storm has swept oil prices to $132 a barrel last week. Read more about the expert's view on global oil-production here.

Announcements

All-hands meeting on 4 June

Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the all-Hands meeting on Wednesday 4 June from 09h00 to 11h.00 in the Salle Polyvalente. ITER Director General Kaname Ikeda will explain where we stand on the Council preparations and talk about the general project status. More details concerning this meeting will be communicated in the course of the week.

--- Iris Rona

Seminar on Privileges and Immunities

On Tuesday 27th May,  ITER directly employed and seconded staff are invited to an Information seminar on the privileges and immunities. The seminar will take place in the “Rene Gravier Amphitheatre” in building 506 from 10h to 12h. The seminar aims to explain the extent of the privileges and immunities of ITER Organization staff members, whether directly employed or seconded, in particular in France, and to answer questions related to this subject.

--- Iris Rona

Science communication conference

Building bridges between researchers and research communicators is one of the overarching objectives of the Science communication conference held from 23 to 27 June in Sweden and in Denmark (Stockholm, Malmö, Lund and Copenhagen). Please find more information here.

Inter-Parents Manosque launches website

Inter-Parents Manosque, the association of parents whose children attend the International School, has recently launched its own website. The association aims to promote the school, organize events and support families in the education of their children and integration in the international school community. The website contains news and updates about the school, a calendar of events, useful links and info and the association also publishes a regular newsletter. So if you want to know what is going on at the International School, or just get into contact with other parents, just click here to have a look:

http://www.ipm04.fr/

--- Iris Rona

“ITERCULTURAL” Workshops

The Agence ITER France Welcome Office, within the framework of its French Training Programme, is introducing a new concept: the “Itercultural Workshops”. Are you interested in finding out about your colleagues’ different cultures, countries, languages and ways of life? Are you interested in sharing with other people your knowledge of your own country, your traditions, ways of doing things, customs?

Then please sign up for our new workshops, once a month on Tuesdays from 11h to 12h . Each month, a new culture will be under the spotlight and we should all learn a lot about each other in a friendly and informal atmosphere.

The first workshop will be held on Tuesday 17 June, Room 104, Building 521 and we will be discussing American culture.

For further information, please contact Shawn Simpson, at the AIF Welcome Office: shawn.simpson@cea.fr or 04 42 25 29 92.

Pétit Déjeuner au Miel

Your are invited by the AIF Welcome Office to a Petit Déjeuner this Thursday at 8h30 in front of Mr. Ikeda’s office. The theme is "Les miels de Provence". Come and taste the different honeys of the region.

Introduction to the French Cuisine

There are two cultural activities for ITER staff and families to note down in your diary this coming June: the first one on Monday, 9 June (9:30-12:00) will be an accompanied trip to a French supermarket and Asian supermarket in Pertuis. Whether you have recently arrived in Provence or you have been here a while, this is an ideal opportunity to find out how to buy ingredients, to discover the names of different food items in French, to distinguish between the various qualities of food, and to be able to ask all those questions about supermarkets that you never could before! The cost will be 35 Euros per person.

The second cookery class with will be held at Chateau de Clapier on Thursday 12th June from 9:30 - 12:00 followed by lunch. The whole of this lesson will be devoted to learning how to make macaroons. Not just for those of you with a sweet tooth, there will be the opportunity to discover the secrets of producing perfect savoury or sweet macaroons that just melt in your mouth followed by the opportunity to taste them all! The cost for this lesson is 45 Euros per person. If you are interested in either (or both) of these classes and would like to book your place, please contact Juliet Palmer 04 92 72 16 56 or email jamespalmer@orange.fr