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Construction progress
Bird's eye views, three years apart
Construction progress | Bird's eye views, three years apart
Taken three years apart (February 2020-February 2023) these two aerial photographs provide a spectacular illustration of progress on the ITER construction site.
The ITER construction site on 17 March 2023. © EJF Riche — ITER Organization
In February 2020, the roofing of the Tokamak Building at the centre of the photo is still a work in progress. It will be another four months before a large banner affixed to the building's north façade can proclaim, "We have delivered."
The vast storage area for construction supplies seen on the left side of the 2020 image is now occupied by the completed Control Building, where servers and other systems are currently being installed.
The ITER construction site on 11 February 2020. © EJF Riche — ITER Organization
Also to the left, the cooling towers and heat rejection system were only partially realized three years ago. Today, all equipment is in place and this plant system is well into the commissioning phase.
The landscape in front of the Tokamak Complex has also changed radically: the large open space, which used to be cluttered with worksite supplies and equipment, is now teeming with construction activity. The neutral beam power supply structures are clearly visible: steel frames rising 25 metres, thick separating walls for the massive transformers, deep trenches for the transmission lines...
A new "neighbourhood" has filled the space to the right of the Tokamak Complex, near the cryoplant and the twin buildings for magnet power conversion. This is the main ITER boulevard, spanned by the first of three planned bridges delivering cryogenic fluids or supporting the busbars that deliver power to the magnets.
Another new feature on the ITER site: the parking lots for the ITER staff and contractors are now covered with solar panels, whose production exceeds the consumption of the ITER Headquarters Building and supplies electricity to 24 electric vehicle charging stations.
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