Pair of “safe hands” strikes again
With the acceleration of ITER machine assembly, ITER's bridge cranes are seldom idle.
Just over two weeks ago, the main ITER bridge cranes worked together to transfer a 1,300-tonne vacuum vessel sector module into the machine assembly pit. Shortly after that, they were upending a new sector module to vertical (see photos from 6 to 9 February in this gallery).
Last week, ITER's "pair of safe hands" was at it again, carefully transporting the 400-tonne sector module across the Assembly Hall to sub-assembly tooling in a sequence that involved lifting, pivoting, re-pivoting, and finally lowering into the V-shaped SSAT2.
"Safe hands" is how the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy described the bridge cranes when it signed the procurement contract back in 2013. This has proven to be an apt description as, operation after operation, the 750-tonne bridge cranes have carried ITER components safely and reliably to their destinations.