Photo portfolio

A sense of acceleration

23 Jul 2025

For the last issue of the ITER Newsline before the annual summer hiatus, we walked through the ITER construction site to cover the ongoing activities and convey, through this photo portfolio, the unique nature of the project—a scientific and industrial venture with few equivalents in history.

The ITER Assembly Hall, seen from the level of the overhead cranes. The tokamak pit is visible behind the wall at the back of the image.

In the Assembly Hall, two upending tools stand side by side, each holding a 330-tonne toroidal field coil. For the first time, the twin steel cradles have worked almost in parallel, moving the large and weighty components from a horizontal orientation to vertical so they could be transferred into the arms of a sector sub-assembly tool. There, they will be attached to vacuum vessel sector #5 to form a “sector module,” one of the building blocks of the ITER plasma chamber.

In the former Cryostat Workshop, there are three vacuum vessel sectors in various stages of finalization. One (#8) has been handed over to the ITER Organization after approximately one and a half years of repair.

Inside the tokamak assembly pit, two sector modules are now in place. By the end of the year, when a third module joins them, the ITER plasma chamber will be one-third installed—nine modules, welded together, are required to form the toroidal volume where fusion reactions will be produced.

With the industrial challenges of the past couple of years behind us (dimensional non-conformities on the sector bevel joints and corrosion issues on the thermal shield), the general mood is one of renewed enthusiasm and the general sense is one of acceleration—sector modules are getting assembled in 6 months instead of 18, the machine is taking shape, and systems are kicking in.

This photo portfolio does not cover the entirety of what is happening on the ITER worksite. Major progress is also being accomplished in test facilities for the cryopumps and coils, in command control and data storage (see article), and in several ancillary systems indispensable to realizing the Promethean dream of fusion energy.

In September, when Newsline resumes publication, we will highlight these other systems.

Inside the "assembly pit"

One of the two sector modules in the pit is visible, the other is hidden. By the end of the year, when a third module joins them, the ITER plasma chamber will be one-third installed.

Around the back

Inside the tokamak pit, this is what the side-by-side sector modules look like from the back, where the steel superstructure of adjacent toroidal field coils nearly touches.

Raising a 330-tonne coil to vertical

Upending activities, whether for a vacuum vessel sector or a toroidal field coil, are among the most spectacular operations one can witness in the Assembly Hall. Here, to the right, toroidal field coil #16 (supplied by Japan) is being raised from horizontal to vertical prior to its transfer into the arms of the sub-assembly tool, to the left, where it will be paired with vacuum vessel sector #5.

DEUX outils de basculement

Sur cette image, deux outils de basculement sont en action dans le Hall d'assemblage, soutenant des bobines toroïdales de 300 tonnes qu'ils ont redressées à la verticale. À partir de cette position, les bobines peuvent être hissées par les ponts roulants et arrimées dans l'outillage d'assemblage pour les modules de la chambre à vide.

One coil mounted

One day after the upending, one of the toroidal field coils was mounted onto the open wing of the tool. The other soon followed suit.

Preparing the next three sectors

A general view of the former Cryostat Workshop which is now used for assembly-related activities. Visible in the photo: vacuum vessel sector #8, which was handed over last week to the ITER Organization; vacuum vessel sector #1 to the right at the far end of the building; and the steel structure of the Trial, Test and Training Facility that will be used to pre-rehearse in-vessel assembly activities.

Through the window

Activity on a polished thermal shield panel is visible through an opening in vacuum vessel sector #8.

Abstract metrology

Highly sophisticated technology and basic—but effective!—craftsmen habits often coexist in the ITER environment. Here, handwritten labels identify elements on the inner wall of vacuum vessel sector #8.

On its side

Vacuum vessel sector #1 lies on its side. Its second side, in fact, because it was recently rotated so that repairs could be carried out on the formerly inaccessible bevel joint region.

A practice station

The steel structure of the Trial, Test and Training Facility represents three vacuum vessel sectors sitting side by side. It will be used to qualify and test the tools dedicated to the assembly of components inside the vacuum vessel and also, possibly, for the robots that will weld the sectors together. The first activities, including personnel qualification, are foreseen to start next year.