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

  • Disruption mitigation | Final design review is a major step forward

    The generations of physicists, engineers, technicians and other specialists who have worked in nuclear fusion share a common goal, dedication and responsibility [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | Like grasping a bowl of cereal

    Contrary to the vast majority of ITER machine components, the modules that form the central solenoid cannot be lifted by way of hooks and attachments. The 110-t [...]

    Read more

  • Education | 13th ITER International School announced

    The 13th ITER International School (IIS) will be held from 9 to 13 December in Nagoya hosted by National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), Japan. The subject [...]

    Read more

  • Open Doors Day | Having fun while discovering ITER

    A public event on Saturday 13 April draws a big crowd. It was a beautiful, summer-like day on Saturday 13 April. Perfect for a journey into ITER. Nearly 800 mem [...]

    Read more

  • Fusion world | Increased awareness in a changing landscape

    The world of fusion research is changing fast, and world leaders are taking notice. The large public projects that occupied centre stage for the past decades ar [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Back to the underground cathedral

In the last issue of Newsline we shared a picture of the Tokamak's subterranean world, showing the cavernous space that exists between the lower basement slab (B2) and the next-level slab (B1) of the Tokamak Complex.

"What is today a vast open space around the Tokamak assembly arena," the article said, "will one day be occupied by the dense piping of the cooling water system primary circuit."



Click on the image above to watch the animation.

Miikka Kotamaki of the ITER Design Integration Division has created a GIF image that brings home the reality of those words, by showing how the space will progressively fill up with pipes, cables, feeders and busbars.

The sequence is as follows: first the piping for building services such as compressed air, demineralized water, liquid and gaseous nitrogen, helium, fire protection, and drainage is set into place (in blue); followed by cable trays (light grey), cryolines (deep blue), and cooling water lines (not visible as they are located behind and above the camera's viewpoint).

Next come additional cable trays (light grey), massive magnet feeders and feeder boxes (yellow) and busbars (gold). Other ancillary equipment such as fast discharge units is introduced and connected to the feeder boxes.

The last step in transforming the subterranean cathedral into a forest of piping and equipment is the installation of vacuum pipes and pumps and their connection to the feeder boxes (light blue).

German photographer Christian Luenig experimented with a different approach—a black and white rendition reminiscent of drypoint drawings. (Christian Lünig/VG Bild und Kunst) (Click to view larger version...)
German photographer Christian Luenig experimented with a different approach—a black and white rendition reminiscent of drypoint drawings. (Christian Lünig/VG Bild und Kunst)
While Miikka was busy creating his animation, a German artist—photographer Christian Luenig, whose work on ITER we presented in June 2015—was experimenting with a different approach: the drypoint drawing, which perfectly expresses the mineral atmosphere of ITER's underground cathedral.

return to the latest published articles