"Construction" Gallery
Side by side
2026-01-15 - Toroidal field coil #2 and toroidal field coil #3 have been raised to vertical in adjacent upending tools and are awaiting transfer to one of the sector sub-assembly tools to be paired with vacuum vessel sector #4.
Filling up
2026-01-15 - The "production line" for sector modules is accelerating at ITER. Three completed sector modules were installed in the pit in 2025 and another is going in at the end of January 2026.
Nearly ready for transfer
2026-01-15 - Sector module #8 is nearly ready to be transported out of tooling and into the tokamak pit. Visible in this photo are the central vacuum vessel sector, its wafer-thin thermal shield, and the toroidal field coil superstructure (triple dots).
From above
2026-01-15 - Thanks to temporary staging platforms, teams can access every level of this vacuum vessel sector module in the tokamak pit.
Specialized "cradles"
2026-01-15 - For every job, a bespoke tool. In this photo, the upending tool on the left is lifting a D-shaped toroidal field coil into a vertical position, mirroring the tool on the right, which has already completed the operation for the second coil in the pair.
Sector #1: all repairs completed
2026-01-15 - Activity on vacuum vessel sector #1 is nearing completion and the component is scheduled to be transferred to the Assembly Hall at the end of January 2026. It is next in line for transfer to the tall sub-assembly tools where "sectors" are associated with other components to become "sector modules."
A near-finalized sector module
2026-01-15 - Another view of the near-finalized sector module #8. It took less than five full months for sub-assembly activities to be completed.
Third of the way there
2026-01-15 - Three of nine sector modules have been installed in the ITER tokamak assembly pit. A fourth is expected later this month.
A closed cryo chamber
2026-01-15 - The first toroidal field coil is in the magnet test facility and high-voltage commissioning of the power converter is underway to be sure the systems are ready to test the magnet at 4 K (minus 269 degrees Celsius).
Last activities on sector module #8
2026-01-09 - In the Assembly Hall, vacuum vessel sector module #8 is now in the final stages of assembly. (In this photo, a last piece—a small segment of thermal shield—is being transported to the tall tool, left.) Sector module #8 is scheduled to be lifted into the tokamak pit at the end of the month.