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Latest ITER Newsline

  • Tokamaks | Different approaches around the world

    Look east, look west ... tokamak projects are underway in different parts of the world. All of them are benefiting from and complementing the pioneering work al [...]

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  • Construction site | A guide to work underway

    Just like the ITER worksite, drone photography is also making progress. This view of the ITER platform is the sharpest and most detailed of all those we have pu [...]

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  • Vacuum vessel repair | A portfolio

    Whether standing vertically in the Assembly Hall or lying horizontally in the former Cryostat Workshop now assigned to component repair operations, the non-conf [...]

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  • European Physical Society | ITER presents its new plans

    The new ITER baseline and its associated research plan were presented last week at the 50th annual conference of the European Physical Society Plasma Physics Di [...]

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  • Image of the week | The platform's quasi-final appearance

    Since preparation work began in 2007 on the stretch of land that was to host the 42-hectare ITER platform, regular photographic surveys have been organized to d [...]

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Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Pressurized equipment

ITER can now act as inspector

A component or system under pressure that contains (or might contain) activated elements falls under the category of "nuclear pressurized equipment." In ITER, components such as the vacuum vessel, the massive drain tanks that collect water from the cooling circuits in the case of leak or accidental situation, and the nearly 40-kilometre-long network of the Tokamak cooling water piping belong to this category.

The Tokamak cooling water system (TCWS) is one of the mechanical systems of the ITER machine that falls into the category of nuclear pressure equipment, which requires that conformity assessments be performed at every stage of fabrication. The ITER Organization has acquired ''Module H,'' which recognizes the Organization as a pressure equipment manufacturer with a full, certified quality assurance system. (Click to view larger version...)
The Tokamak cooling water system (TCWS) is one of the mechanical systems of the ITER machine that falls into the category of nuclear pressure equipment, which requires that conformity assessments be performed at every stage of fabrication. The ITER Organization has acquired ''Module H,'' which recognizes the Organization as a pressure equipment manufacturer with a full, certified quality assurance system.
French nuclear safety regulations, which ITER observes, require that conformity assessments be performed at every stage of the component or system's fabrication.

These assessments are performed by specialized companies called "Agreed Notified Bodies" that provide step-by-step validation of the design/manufacturing/installation processes and eventually deliver the certificate of conformity allowing the component or system to be commissioned.

Last week, following a lengthy and rigorous procedure, the ITER Organization successfully passed the audit to act as an Agreed Notified Body. "We now have internalized this capacity," says Joëlle Elbez-Uzan, head of the ITER Environmental Protection & Nuclear Safety Division. "We have acquired the so-called 'Module H', which validates the excellence of our integrated management system of regulatory requirements in the field pressure regulation."

Following this initial validation, Joëlle's Division will be audited every year by the certification agency Bureau Veritas.

For ITER, the internalization of a formerly contracted strategic function (and a costly one at that) translates into considerable savings.

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