In Korea, a week of meetings for key ITER components
29 Apr 2013
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Ji-min Song, ITER Korea
Over 30 experts attended the 52nd ITER Vacuum Vessel Integrated Product Team (IPT) and Domestic Agency collaboration meeting to discuss experience in the fabrication of the ITER vacuum vessel, ports and in-wall shielding.
An important week of meetings took place recently in Korea for the ITER vacuum vessel and thermal shield—for both of these key components industrial suppliers have been selected and manufacturing, pre-manufacturing or kick-off works have begun.
The 52nd ITER Vacuum Vessel Integrated Product Team (IPT) meeting and Domestic Agency collaboration meeting held on 8-10 April brought together over 30 experts from the ITER Organization, the European, Indian, Korean and Russian Domestic Agencies, and Korean industry (Hyundai Heavy Industry & AMW). During meetings hosted at the National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI) and at Hyundai Heavy Industry, participants shared the technology and experience of fabrication of the ITER vacuum vessel, ports and in-wall shielding, and discussed the development pathway for fabrication issues. A visit was organized to the KSTAR Tokamak at NFRI.
During a bilateral collaboration meeting held on 11 April, participants from the Korean and European Domestic Agencies—plus industrial suppliers Hyundai Heavy Industry and AMW—focused more particularly on the new technologies for fabrication of ITER vacuum vessel sectors, especially welding, nondestructive examination (NDE) and optical dimensional measurement. All parties agreed that such valuable collaboration would be continued in the future.
The kick-off meeting for the ITER thermal shield—"one of the most critical procurement items in the ITER Project"—took place in Korea on 12 April.
On Friday 12 April, the kick-off meeting for the ITER thermal shield was held—this key component will be installed between the magnets and the vacuum vessel/cryostat in order to shield the magnets from radiation. The contract for the design and fabrication of the thermal shield was awarded by the Korean Domestic Agency in February to SFA Engineering Corp, which is also the supplier selected by Korea for ITER's assembly tooling. SFA presented the implementation plan for the procurement of the thermal shield during the meeting.
More than 20 responsible persons from the Korean Domestic Agency, SFA and the ITER Organization were present including Domestic Agency head Kijung Jung, SFA Chief Operating Officer Myung Jae Lee, and head of the ITER Vacuum Vessel Division Carlo Sborchia. Prior to the kick-off meeting, representatives from ITER and the Korean Domestic Agency agreed to collaborate closely to solve urgent design change requests related to assembly and interface issues.
"The thermal shield is one of the most critical procurement items in the ITER project. We will do our best in collaboration with the ITER Organization for its successful procurement," stressed Kijung Jung.