Open Doors Day

Seeing is understanding...

A young man had hitchhiked the previous day all the way from Rouen, Normandy, covering approximately 1,000 kilometres to be on time for the opening of ITER’s doors to the public on Saturday 17 May. Families had come from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain and—of course—from neighboring...

The ITER international enclave

A technological jewel nestled in rural Provence

Open Doors Day

Seeing is understanding...

Image of the week | Last module for the central solenoid

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Upcoming events

30 Jun 2025

14th ITER International School - Integrated Modelling in Magnetic Fusion Plasmas

This year's ITER International School will take place in Aix-en-Provence, France, from 30 June to 4...

4 Nov 2025

FuseNet PhD Event 2025 at ITER

The FuseNet PhD Event 2025 will take place at ITER from 4 to 6 November 2025. This annual get...

A “record performance” brings assembly back on track

On the fast track to operation

Collaborative research intensifies on China's HL-3 tokamak

ITER en photos

Front-row view

2025-05-17 - The first Open Doors Day of 2025 was well-timed ... only one month before the first of nine vacuum vessel sectors had been lowered into the tokamak pit.

Large hooks

2025-05-17 - The size of the overhead crane hooks must have surprised more than one visitor on 17 May 2025 during the semi-annual ITER Open Doors Day. The combined lift capacity of the largest overhead bridge cranes is 1,400 tonnes.

ITER Open Doors Days: seeing is understanding

2025-05-17 - Approximately 700 members of the public attend the ITER Open Doors Day organized on Saturday 17 May. With 75 volunteers on hand to present the project and answer questions, every visitor left with a better understanding of the scale and scope of the project and the advantages of fusion energy.

Tools are full

2025-05-15 - Vacuum vessel sector #5 is lowered in the tool that was vacated earlier this month by completed sector module #7. The association of sector #5 with its thermal shield and a pair of toroidal field coils will take approximately six months.

Up in the air

2025-05-15 - The overhead cranes winch the 440-tonne sector right up to the ceiling so that it will be able to pass over the front crossbar of the SSAT sub-assembly tool. The radial beam will be supported in the tool; the suspended sector will also be propped from below.

Attached to a radial beam

2025-05-15 - The radial beam (directly above the component) plays an important role. The sector remains attached to it all through the sub-assembly process... as it is extracted from the upending tool, as it is received into the sector sub-assembly tool, as it is transferred into the pit, and during in-pit vacuum vessel welding.

Transfer of sector #5 to tooling

2025-05-15 - On Thursday 15 May, vacuum vessel sector #5 is extracted from the upending tool (right) and transferred across the Assembly Hall to the standing tool where it will associated with other key machine components to become sector module #5.