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

  • Fusion world | Japan and Europe inaugurate largest tokamak in the world

    It was 6:00 a.m. in La Bergerie, a former sheep barn located a few kilometres from ITER in the vast Château de Cadarache domain, and that had been converted [...]

    Read more

  • Stakeholders | ITER Director-General meets Prime Minister Kishida

    In Japan, the prime minister lives and works at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in central Tokyo, just a few blocks from the National Diet Building and [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | Season wrapping

    Although the travel distance is short, barely exceeding one hundred metres, the transfer of vacuum vessel sector #8 from the Assembly Hall, where it is presentl [...]

    Read more

  • In memoriam | Bernard Pégourié, physicist and mountaineer

    The worldwide fusion community mourns Bernard Pégourié, of France's Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (CEA-IRFM), who passed away on 25 November following [...]

    Read more

  • COP28 | Fusion is making a splash

    The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, opened on 30 November in Dubai's Expo City—a sprawling conference centre built two years ago for the W [...]

    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