Toroidal field coils
15 more to come
7 Sep 2020
The ITER machine will require 18* toroidal field coils—the D-shaped superconducting magnets that are responsible for confining the plasma in the centre of the torus-shaped plasma chamber. Since April four of them, two from Europe and two from Japan, have been delivered to the ITER site.
Powered by two 1,000 HP hydraulic "power packs," the trailer transporting toroidal field coil #11 passes through one of the narrowest sections of the ITER Itinerary, a few kilometres to the east of the construction site.
Although similar in shape, they differ in their packaging. Europe has opted for a tight wrap that reveals the general shape of the component and advertises the names of the institutions and companies involved; Japan has chosen a more conservative approach, with the coil encased in a rectangular frame with only its two opposite ends visible.
But whatever the packaging and whether experiencing it for the first time or the fourth, the transport of a 17-metre-long, 350-tonne component is always a spectacular event that draws small crowds on its passage.
Europe's packaging for toroidal field coils is a tight wrap that reveals the general shape of the component and advertises the names of the institutions and companies involved.
Following the arrival of toroidal field coils TF9 and TF12 in April, and TF13 in July, toroidal field coil #11 (from Europe) was delivered to the ITER site in the small hours of 4 September. Its "partners" for pre-assembly, toroidal field coil #10 and vacuum vessel sector #8, are not due at ITER before 2021.
* Plus one spare