Subscribe options

Select your newsletters:

Please enter your email address:

@

Your email address will only be used for the purpose of sending you the ITER Organization publication(s) that you have requested. ITER Organization will not transfer your email address or other personal data to any other party or use it for commercial purposes.

If you change your mind, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe option at the bottom of an email you've received from ITER Organization.

For more information, see our Privacy policy.

News & Media

Latest ITER Newsline

  • Tokamak assembly | Extra support from below

    Underneath the concrete slab that supports the Tokamak Complex is a vast, dimly lit space whose only features are squat, pillar-like structures called 'plinths. [...]

    Read more

  • Vacuum standards and quality | Spreading the word

    As part of a continuing commitment to improve quality culture both at the ITER Organization and at the Domestic Agencies, the Vacuum Delivery & Installation [...]

    Read more

  • Test facility | How do electronics react to magnetic fields?

    A tokamak is basically a magnetic cage designed to confine, shape and control the super-hot plasmas that make fusion reactions possible. Inside the ITER Tokamak [...]

    Read more

  • ITER Robots | No two alike

    More than 500 students took part in the latest ITER Robots challenge. Working from the same instructions and technical specifications, they had worked in teams [...]

    Read more

  • Data archiving | Operating in quasi real time

    To accommodate the first real-time system integrated with the ITER control system, new components of the data archiving system have been deployed. Data archivi [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

A centralized approach for cooling water piping

The agreement to transfer responsibility from the US Domestic Agency to the ITER Organization for the execution of the design, procurement and pre-assembly of TCWS piping and the completion of the final design was signed on 31 October by ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima and Ned Sauthoff, project manager for US ITER. (Click to view larger version...)
The agreement to transfer responsibility from the US Domestic Agency to the ITER Organization for the execution of the design, procurement and pre-assembly of TCWS piping and the completion of the final design was signed on 31 October by ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima and Ned Sauthoff, project manager for US ITER.
The ITER Organization and the US Domestic Agency have signed two agreements that will permit a more cost- and time-efficient procurement and integration process of the tokamak cooling water system (TCWS) piping as well as the completion of the final design of the largest TCWS components such as the pressure vessel, pumps and heat exchangers. The agreements, signed on 31 October, describe the transfer of responsibility from the US Domestic Agency to the ITER Organization for the execution of the design, procurement and pre-assembly of TCWS piping and the completion of the final design of the system.

In 2009 the ITER Organization and US ITER signed the Procurement Arrangement for the TCWS. While the global responsibility for this procurement remains unchanged, the agreements signed last week allow TCWS piping to become part of one centralized procurement for all ITER piping equipment—some 60 km of pipes (1,700 tonnes), approximately 4,000 valves and 400 tonnes of pipe supports.

The Tokamak Cooling Water System includes major components such as pressurizers, heat exchangers, pumps, tanks and drying equipment, plus 33 kilometres of piping. (Click to view larger version...)
The Tokamak Cooling Water System includes major components such as pressurizers, heat exchangers, pumps, tanks and drying equipment, plus 33 kilometres of piping.
"This centralized approach permits the ITER Organization to occupy the role of unique design authority and Nuclear Operator in its interfaces with the French Nuclear Regulator (ASN), thereby mitigating the risk for potential impact on cost and schedule for procurement and assembly," explains Giovanni Dell'Orco, Cooling Water System Section leader. Another important advantage he sees is the option now to have the pre-assembly and pre-testing of the system performed in a local workshop, which will simplify the final assembly on site.

As for the largest TCWS components, they will still be manufactured under US Domestic Agency responsibility and delivered to the ITER site. However, their design will be finalized and their integration overseen by the ITER Organization. "We hope that by doing it this way the integration of these systems will be facilitated, given the stringent safety requirements and the complexity of the interfaces with many clients."

The next important steps are to agree on a project plan for the cooling water system centralized piping procurement and the TCWS final design, and to organize periodic meetings for the coordination of these activities. 

return to the latest published articles