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 -

Pre-assembly

Prepping the first coil pair

Since their delivery to ITER, in April and July of last year, toroidal field coils #12 and #13 from Japan have been slowly and steadily gaining weight. As the 320-tonne components are prepped for pre-assembly, close to 10 tonnes of equipment, some of it temporary, are being added to their already considerable mass.

In a vast storage/workshop facility on site, a pair of Japanese toroidal field coils is being prepped for the first pre-assembly operation on the sector sub-assembly tools. The process adds approximately 10 tonnes of equipment, some of it temporary, to their already considerable mass. (Click to view larger version...)
In a vast storage/workshop facility on site, a pair of Japanese toroidal field coils is being prepped for the first pre-assembly operation on the sector sub-assembly tools. The process adds approximately 10 tonnes of equipment, some of it temporary, to their already considerable mass.
"Some of the equipment is added at ITER because it is too fragile to be exposed to the long sea journey, or because it depends on the reverse engineering assessment carried out after arrival to match the coil with neighbouring components," explains Sebastien Koczorowski, the responsible officer for the toroidal field coil preparation activities. "Other equipment—like the interface clamps or the inter-coil structures—need to be installed and customized on site."

The largest part of the added weight, however, consists of equipment necessary for the lifting and subsequent installation of the coils on pre-assembly tooling in the Assembly Hall—for example a set of massive lifting lugs required for transport by the overhead cranes, or components that will interface with the giant sector sub-assembly tool.

Standing on the scaffolding or crouching under the coils, several teams are at work. Members of the DYNAMIC SNC consortium (one of two machine assembly contractors) they are busy installing the delicate network of the external cooling circuit (130 metres of thin piping), connecting the low-voltage wires for the diagnostics systems, or match-drilling for various interface elements.

It will take another few months to finalize the equipment work and transfer the coils to the sector sub-assembly tool. Once associated to vacuum vessel sector #6 and corresponding thermal shield panels, they will form the first of the nine pre-assemblies required for the ITER Tokamak.

In the vast storage/workshop facility, a second pair of coils will soon undergo a similar preparation process, which will be repeated until all nine pre-assemblies are complete and the machine torus finalized.

return to the latest published articles