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ITER MAG 9

Aug 2016

Mega contract to manage assembly and installation

The ITER Tokamak, with its one million components and ten times as many individual parts—is without a doubt the most complex machine ever designed.

A mega contract for assembly-phase construction management was signed on 27 June 2016 by (left to right) Jo Jik-Lie, president of KEPCO's nuclear division; Clive White, president of Amec Foster Wheeler's Clean Energy business; Bernard Bigot, ITER Director-General; and Stephane Aubarbier, vice president of Assystem. (Click to view larger version...)
A mega contract for assembly-phase construction management was signed on 27 June 2016 by (left to right) Jo Jik-Lie, president of KEPCO's nuclear division; Clive White, president of Amec Foster Wheeler's Clean Energy business; Bernard Bigot, ITER Director-General; and Stephane Aubarbier, vice president of Assystem.
Whereas space rockets, interplanetary probes and nuclear submarines all rely on techologies that have been tried and tested by industry, ITER will be built with a number of first-of-a-kind technologies, or technologies that will be pushed to operate at the very limit of feasibility.  

Rarely in industrial history have the requirements for precision and quality been as demanding. In ITER, errors of even millimetres can not be tolerated.

The size and weight of the major components, the tiny tolerances and careful handling required for the assembly of huge and unique systems, the diversity of manufacturers, the tight schedule ... all of these elements combine to make ITER assembly an engineering and logistics challenge of enormous proportions.

In order to ensure that the services, systems and processes are in place for the to-standard assembly of the first-of-a-kind ITER Tokamak and supporting plant systems, the ITER Organization awarded a EUR 174 million construction management contract on 27 June 2016 to the MOMENTUM joint venture, led by Amec Foster Wheeler (UK) in partnership with Assystem (France) and KEPCO Engineering and Construction (Korea).

Some 2,000 workers are expected on site during the peak of assembly and installation activities.