Worksite progress
Once upon a crane
9 Apr 2018
Of all the features that have changed the most since the last bird's eye view of the ITER site in January, the bioshield is the most striking. For two years, the structure had remained open to the sky, looking more and more like Rome's Colosseum as it grew, with its circular shape and row upon row of large openings.
The first machine component—a magnet feeder—will enter the assembly arena through openings in the bioshield lid. But for the installation of major components like the 1,250-tonne cryostat base or the vacuum vessel sectors, the building will be covered over and the lid removed. The major components will be delivered to the pit area by overhead crane.
That vision is now gone. The "lid" that had been installed at mid-height since September was recently lifted to the top of the structure, closing off the massive steel-and-concrete cylinder. We are no longer looking at the Roman Colosseum, but at something more reminiscent of Hadrian's mausoleum...
Other changes, observed from the highest crane on the site, are less spectacular but no less significant in terms of worksite progress. Please see the details in the gallery below.
To the left of the ITER Headquarters building, additional office space will soon be made available to ITER Organization staff and direct contractors, bringing the total capacity of this main office area to approximately 1,250 people.
From 70 metres above the worksite, the "box" of the Tokamak Building stands out clearly, with the machine well at its centre. The Diagnostics Building (at the bottom of the frame) and the Tritium Building (beyond the bioshied) complete the Tokamak Complex, which will be fully closed over in 2020.
Progress on the south side of the worksite is mostly being achieved inside the buildings, as equipment is installed by contractors. The one spectacular exception is the exterior area of the cryoplant (top left), where in February a series of 20-metre-high, 150-tonne storage tanks for gaseous helium were set into place in less than a week. Soon after, the vertical tanks were joined by two nitrogen cold boxes, two nitrogen tanks and two large helium cold boxes. Further down the alley—on the concrete platform that looks a bit like a hotel marquee—twin helium quench tanks will soon join the others.
Two rectangular openings in the bioshield lid will allow rebar and formwork to be delivered to the lower region, where work is underway on the "crown" that will support the cryostat. The first large machine component—a magnet feeder—will also be introduced through these "doors." When not in use, the openings will be closed by the two rectangular weathertight plugs, visible in this image.