Component repair
Sector module extraction imminent
3 Jul 2023
The paperwork is done. Every tool and system has been checked, both visually and with the proper instruments. A "functional briefing" has reminded everyone involved of how the operation will proceed, step by step, and clarified the chain of command. On Tuesday this week, the delicate and complex "extraction" of vacuum vessel sector module #6 from the assembly pit will begin.
The same team responsible for the lift and installation of the 1,350-tonne sector module in May 2022 will be on deck in the coming days. "We have the best people on the ground," says Daniel Coelho the ITER assembly engineer who will coordinate the operation.
The same team responsible for the lift and installation of the 1,350-tonne sector module in May 2022 will be on deck this week—in all, close to 50 people working for the ITER Organization and contracting companies. Working in close coordination, they will lift the sector module out of the assembly pit and transfer it to one of the twin sector sub-assembly tools (SSAT-2), where it will be disassembled so that some of its elements (the vacuum vessel sector itself and thermal shield panels) can be readied for repair.
Every tool and system has been checked, both visually and with the proper instruments.
"Extracting" might be the semantic opposite of "inserting," but in the context of this huge component the extraction will not be a perfect reverse operation. Procedures and tools have been adapted to deal with a situation that was not initially anticipated, but that is now planned through a carefully constructed scenario.
Late on Monday afternoon, as the last details were being worked out, the team members were both focused and confident. "We have the best people on the ground," confided Daniel Coelho, the ITER assembly engineer who will coordinate the operation.