Three more segments for the cryostat
27 Jun 2016
One by one the elements that make up the base of the ITER cryostat—the single largest load of Tokamak assembly—are being delivered to the ITER site from India and safely stored in the Cryostat Workshop.
By late afternoon Friday, all three segments had been unloaded, unpacked and inspected. Elements of the support and transport frame are visible in the foreground.
Twelve segments were delivered in December 2015 for tier 1 of the 1,250-tonne base section. Three further segments, weighing approximately 120 tonnes each and representing half of the elements needed to assemble tier 2, arrived at ITER in the early hours of Friday 24 June.
Work will begin this week on the assembly of the first support and transport frame—one of a set of three large steel structures that will support components, jigs and fixtures during the cryostat assembly process. The 30 x 30 metre frames will also act as transporters for the completed cryostat sections.
By mid-July, the welding machines should be installed in the Cryostat Workshop in time for welding operations to begin in August.
The final three segments of the cryostat base are scheduled for delivery in the first week of September.