Paint job
One level done, five to go
17 Jun 2019
The job is done and the effect is spectacular. At the deepest basement level (B2) of the Tokamak Building, the floors, walls, and ceilings are now perfectly white.
The embedded plates on the walls and ceiling of the lowest basement level of the Tokamak Building (B2) draw a pattern that is evocative of a contemporary art installation.
Sandblasting these vast surfaces prior to applying several layers of thick nuclear paint required more than 112 tonnes of abrasive material. In six months of painting, 30 tonnes of resin, primer and paint along with countless brushes and rolls were consumed.
Level B2 accounts for only one-sixth of the total surfaces to be painted in the Tokamak Building, not counting the central Tokamak Pit, which is a mammoth job in itself.
Last week, personnel from ITER Organization; the European Domestic Agency, Fusion for Energy; architect-engineer ENGAGE; and contractor Prezioso (specialized in the painting of nuclear buildings) did a final inspection check. With a few touch ups here and there, the job was considered done and well done.