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

  • Vacuum components | Shake, rattle, and... qualify!

    A public-private testing partnership certified that ITER's vacuum components can withstand major seismic events. Making sure the ITER tokamak will be safe in th [...]

    Read more

  • Feeders | Delivering the essentials

    Like a circle of giant syringes all pointing inward, the feeders transport and deliver the essentials to the 10,000-tonne ITER magnet system—that is, electrical [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the week | It's FAB season

    It's FAB season at ITER. Like every year since 2008, the Financial Audit Board (FAB) will proceed with a meticulous audit of the project's finances, siftin [...]

    Read more

  • 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

Of Interest

See archived entries

ITER NEWSLINE -

Worksite

First pillars for the crane hall

For the overhead cranes to deliver machine components into the Tokamak assembly pit, the rails that carry them need to be extended some 80 metres beyond the temporary wall of the Assembly Hall. The extension, part of a cladded steel structure supported by two parallel rows of ten steel pillars, will form a new volume within the Tokamak Complex — the Crane Hall where the cranes will travel back and forth as assembly work progresses inside the pit.
 

The lower pillar section (28-tonne, 13 metres in height) is slowly lifted by the mammoth crawler crane. The steel piece needs to be precisely oriented so that its boltholes can match with the 24 studs in the anchoring plinth. (Click to view larger version...)
The lower pillar section (28-tonne, 13 metres in height) is slowly lifted by the mammoth crawler crane. The steel piece needs to be precisely oriented so that its boltholes can match with the 24 studs in the anchoring plinth.
On Wednesday 11 September, the lower section of the first pillar was anchored into the corbel on the south side of the Tokamak Building. Although the steel piece weighs only 28 tonnes (not much by ITER standards ...) a huge crawler crane, with a lifting capacity of 650 tonnes and a boom reaching more than a hundred metres in height, was brought in to perform the operation.

Once lifted from the ground, the pillar had to be precisely oriented so that its boltholes could match with the 24 anchors protruding from the concrete plinth in the corbel. A dozen specialists were ready to perform the delicate insertion operation and subsequent bolting. Like with most components—however heavy—nothing beats the precision of the human hand ...

The stair-like protrusions on the inner face of the pillars will support the rails carrying both overhead crane pairs (750-tonne and 50-tonne). (Click to view larger version...)
The stair-like protrusions on the inner face of the pillars will support the rails carrying both overhead crane pairs (750-tonne and 50-tonne).
By Friday, three lower pillar sections, 13 metres in height, were in place. Each lower section will be topped by a 16-metre-high upper section which, in turn, will support five pre-assembled structural modules for the roof spanning a distance of close to 50 metres. In order to lift the huge modules, a second crawler crane, positioned on the northwest side of the Tokamak Complex, will work in tandem with the one already in place.

Designed to withstand the tremendous forces exerted by the movement of the travelling cranes, the finalized structure will weigh approximately 1,800 tonnes and should be completed by February 2020—one month before the official start of the machine assembly phase.

return to the latest published articles