News

Superconductor test successful

A prototype Nb3Sn sample of the Toroidal Field (TF) Coil conductor has been successfully tested in the Sultan high field test facility. The sample was fabricated for the ITER Organization by CRPP/PSI using conductor provided by the United States DA. Two cable configurations were tested in the two strands of the sample, the TF reference and a US derived configuration. At 70kA and 11.8T maximum field, the TF reference conductor achieved about 7K after 200 charging cycles and the other strand 0.7K less. The strand was manufactured by Oxford Superconductor Technologies following the internal tin route process.

Poloidal Field Insert Coil on the cool down

The PF Insert Coil test facility in Naka, Japan. The test coil has recently been installed in the chamber (center). The Poloidal Field Insert Coil test in the CSMC facility at Naka, Japan, is currently underway, with the coils now at 75K in the cooldown stage. The NbTi PF insert tests a 40m length of the PF6 conductor in a 6T background field provided by the CSMC, simulating the operating conditions of the PF6 coil. The superconducting test is expected to start in late June and will be completed by August.

Discussing ITER Neutronics

From the virtual world of computer modeling to the real world of site construction: the participants of the ITER Neutronics workshop. The fourth ITER Neutronics Workshop was held at the Chateau de Cadarache 26-27 May, attended by some 35 experts representing all the Parties. Held roughly every six months, these workshops are the vehicle for discussions of overall strategy and co-ordination of ITER-specific neutronics, an opportunity to give progress reports and to exchange information on general advances and problems.

“Neutronics” is the science of calculating how radiation behaves using modelling techniques. This is very important for determining the nuclear heating, activation, radiation damage and the overall integration of machine, to ensure the safe operation of the ITER for workers and the public alike and as an essential part of the tritium breeding test blanket programme.

This meeting was able to discuss the recently produced ITER neutronics reference model and saw the start of a big push to co-ordinate research at an international level to address nuclear analysis requirements. Some of the participants in the meeting took the opportunity to visit the ITER site and see for themselves the tangible progress towards the building of a machine which until now has existed only in the virtual world of computer models.

---Jennifer Hay

Picture of the Week

"We all have a short memory when it
comes to weather"

Once mighty, violent and capricious, the Durance River was tamed 50 years ago with the building of a giant dam in Serre-Ponçon, 100 kilometres upriver from Cadarache. The dam has created the largest artificial water reservoir in Europe, and the "killer river" has since turned into a mere rivulet, trickling most of the year in its oversized riverbed.

But when heavy rains keep falling, like they have since last Monday, and when that episode coincides with a late snow-melting season in the Southern Alps, the Durance River can quite suddenly return to its old self. It happens less than once in a decade and it’s happening now.

Heavy rains, though, are not the direct cause of the present and dramatic increase in the river level. Late last Wednesday night, faced with an alarming rise in the reservoir level, EDF, the French Electric Energy Authority who operates the dam and its hydroelectric plant, had to open the floodgates of the Serre-Ponçon adding 100 cubic meters every second to the already rain-swollen river.

On Monday morning, the floodgates were still open, and they will remain so as long as there’s a risk of overflow up in Serre-Ponçon reservoir. As for the weather conditions, which have created this whole situation, they are not as exceptional as they appear. “We all have a very short memory when it comes to the weather. No records have being broken since last Monday”, says Bertrand Laviec at Météo-France’s regional centre in Aix. After almost six years of severe drought, late spring rainfalls are back – with a bit of excess.

Floodgates at Serre-Ponçon were opened last Wednesday night, adding 100 cubic meters every second to the already rain-swollen Durance. Photo: Maurice Fortoul

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

Announcement

All-Staff Meeting

Where do we stand on the ITER Council preparations? What are the latest project developments? What is the outlook for next year? All this and more will be presented at the All-Staff meeting on Wednesday 4 June from 9 to 10.15 at the CEA “Salle Polyvalente”. Mr Ikeda is inviting all ITER and ITER France employees to join him for an update on all these issues and to answer any questions you may have.

Wants to inform the ITER staff about the latest project's development: Director General Kaname Ikeda. Buses will be leaving from the ITER Organization building at 8.45 and will return from the “Salle Polyvalente” at 10.15. For those of you, who want to use their own car or walk (weather permitting) to the “Salle Polyvalente” but don’t know where it is, just follow these directions: From the ITER building, drive/walk back towards the CEA main entrance and after the third roundabout (but before the fourth big roundabout leading to the entrance) take the first turn right. There is a parking area near the ‘Salle Polyvalente”.

--- Iris Rona

Visits

U.S. Ambassador Stapleton visits ITER

The U.S. Ambassador and the ITER Directors amidst the American ITER staff.  Ambassador Craig Stapleton, U.S. Ambassador to France,  visited  ITER on May 29. The Ambassador was accompanied by Mr Francois de Rose - 98 years old – one of Europe's great scientific statesmen - who was crucial in setting up CERN. Philip Breeden U.S Consul General in Marseille, was also present.

The visit started with lunch at the Cantine des Cadres on the Cadarache site. All U.S. citizens at ITER were invited to the lunch to have the opportunity to greet the Ambassador. This was a good move, as the relaxed atmosphere facilitated open dialogue throughout the afternoon. M. de Rose recounted fascinating anecdotes of his meetings with such scientific giants as Einstein and Oppenheimer.

98 and still going strong: Francois de Rose (centre) with U.S. Ambassador Craig Stapleton and ITEr Director General Kaname Ikeda. During a meeting in the ITER building, the DG, Norbert Holtkamp, Gary Johnson and Neil Calder dispensed with PowerPoint and had a focussed discussion with the Ambassador on progress at ITER. U.S. funding for Financial Years 08 and  09  was discussed and Stapleton was very supportive.

There was then a visit to the site guided by Francois Gauché, Head of Agence ITER France and Michel Bedoucha, Deputy Head of CEA Cadarache. The weather was dismal but the mood was bright!
Pictures of the visit can also be found at:
http://france.usembassy.gov

--- Neil Calder

Fusion World

KSTAR ready for First Plasma

KSTAR, the Korean superconducting tokamak being built in Taedok, is expected to announce First Plasma within the next days. Three members of the ITER International team participated in the final commissioning phase of KSTAR last week. Luigi Serio, ITER Cryogenic System Section Leader, participated to the final cooldown and commissioning of the KSTAR cryogenic system. Also Inho Song, Electromechanical Engineer and Jun Tao, Power Electrical Engineeer, spent last week in the KSTAR premises witnessing the commissioning of the youngest member to the International tokamak family.

In the KSTAR control room: PDDG Norbert Holtkamp (centre), Kijung Jung and Gyung-Su Lee, the Heads of ITER Korea (4. and 2. from right), and Luigi Serio (right). KSTAR's role is to establish the scientific and technological base to support fusion research, in particular for the construction, commissioning and operation of ITER. In particular the cryogenic system, despite being much smaller than ITER (between 1/10 and 1/40 depending if cooling power [kW] at 4.5 K or dimension of cryodistribution is taken into account), it is similar for features and components (4.5 K refrigerators, transfer lines, cold circulators, cold compressors, distribution boxes, etc.).

JET resumes 2008 experimental programme

In early April 2008 JET resumed its scientific programme after the successful completion of the 2007 Shutdown and the subsequent Restart, both of which were executed in good agreement with the intended timeline. Part of the 2008 experimental programme will be dedicated to commissioning and scientific exploitation of JET's new major systems such as the ITER-like Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating System and the High Frequency Pellet Injector System. During the Restart phase the commissioning of the Neutral Beam Injection System went extraordinarily well. On the 25th March 2008 JET reached a new record by injecting a total of 4.9GJ of Neutral Beam Energy into the plasma in 42 pulses (compared with a daily target of 24 pulses) within one day.

Also, on the 6th May JET's new Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating system (ITER-like ICRH system) coupled power into plasma for the first time. This represents an important milestone in one of JET's most extensive enhancement projects. More...

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

Neutral Beam Test Facility: There is no alternative

Dhiraj Bora, in charge of heating and current drive for ITER.In order to speed up the design activities needed to conclude the Procurement Arrangements, the CHD department has started installing a new network structure which will allow us to extend the ITER network to the Domestic Agencies (DAs). This idea is to create a sort of “ambassador” network called CAT at each Agency extending the Design Office secure database. This is a necessary step to improve direct remote access from the DAs to the IO Cadarache databases.

The Neutral Beam Test Facility in Padua was again a topic for discussion at the recent top level meetings held at the Chateau. All parties have accepted that in order to achieve Neutral Beams on ITER at megavolt level, a test facility is essential to establish and verify the new areas of technologies being debated. Experience has shown that there is no alternative to such a Test Facility, where work such as testing the high voltage holding with actual surfaces, distances and geometry or the high power extraction and acceleration will be carried out for the first time ever. Discussions on the realisation of this facility are still ongoing and we hope that they can be concluded quickly to allow us to take the next step.

Dhiraj Bora is the ITER Deputy Director General esponsible for Codac & IT, Heating & Current Drive and Diagnostics (CHD).

Links

ITER children meet on facebook

Lorea Alejaldre, 17 year old daughter of ITER Deputy Director General Carlos Alejaldre, has initiated a "facebook" (www.facebook.com)page in order to meet other ITER children. "The idea is to get in touch with each other and to learn more about our different origins and cultures", Lorea explains.

Wants to meet other ITER children: Lorea Alejaldre (right). Ten ITER children have already got in contact with lorea via "facebook", some of them even even met for a night-out in Aix-en-Provence during their last summer vacation. This summer, Lorea prepares herself for University. "I will certainly sign in for science, but certainly not physics", the young Madrileña says. "Doing physics you have to be very bright, I believe."

Meeting other expats

Cars queing in front of a petrol station in La Rochelle last week. Judith Reithmann, an expat living in Greoux-les-Bains, has established the "Expat Club of Provence". If you are interested in cooking, photography, painting and writing workshops together with other expats, please contact Judith, Telephone: 062 78 60 779

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 broadcast 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. To watch the latest programme click here.

Announcements

Typical Provençal Crafts

The Welcome Office of the Agence ITER France would like you to join them for a guided tour of some typical Provençal shops in Aix-enn-Provence. The Shop(ing)-Tour starts on 12 June, 10h-12h. Meeting place is in front of the Town Hall. Please confirm your participation by Wednesday, 11 June, with shawn.simpson@cea.fr or eve-mary.ries@cea.fr Eve-Mary Ries.

Classes a theme

This week's "Classe a thème", is both an intellectual and tasty experience: The Welcome Office of the Agence ITER France this week focusses on French Cheeses. Cheese Class starts on Friday, 6 June, starting at 11.00 in room 104, building 521.