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

  • Magnet technology | 1,000 experts convene in nearby Aix-en-Provence

    The cultural heart of Aix-en-Provence, France—a triangle formed by theatre (Le Grand Théatre), dance (Le Pavillon noir) and music (Le Conservatoire) hubs—became [...]

    Read more

  • Safety Day | From phone straps to neuroscience

    The setting, the action, the small groups strolling from stand to stand ... it all felt like a village fair. Visitors could play ping-pong, maneuver toy forklif [...]

    Read more

  • ITER Members | Director-General Barabaschi visits China

    During his first visit to China as the head of the ITER Project, Director-General Pietro Barabaschi met with members of government, leaders in innovation, and t [...]

    Read more

  • Symposium | How to accelerate fusion development?

    At the 15th edition of the International Symposium on Fusion Nuclear Technology (Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain), ITER presented its mission as not only releva [...]

    Read more

  • Image of the Week | Sector #8 on the move

    After spending just about one year in vertical tooling, vacuum vessel sector #8 has been returned to a horizontal orientation for removal from the Assembly Hall [...]

    Read more

Of Interest

See archived entries

Image of the week

First weld for the top lid

Of the four sections that make up the ITER cryostat, the top lid is the thickest, second heaviest (more than 700 tonnes) and most structurally complex. On Monday 7 June, following a traditional coconut ceremony in the Cryostat Workshop that was broadcast live to India, two welders working on opposite sides of the component's skin, produced the "first arc" of a welding campaign that is scheduled to last four to five months.

On Monday 7 June, two welders from MAN Energy Solutions, working in parallel on opposite sides of the component's skin, produced the ''first arc'' of a welding campaign scheduled to last four to five months. (Click to view larger version...)
On Monday 7 June, two welders from MAN Energy Solutions, working in parallel on opposite sides of the component's skin, produced the ''first arc'' of a welding campaign scheduled to last four to five months.
The collective knowledge and experience that the ITER Organization, ITER India, Larsen & Toubro Ltd and MAN Energy Solutions have accumulated over the past four and a half years since welding operations began on the cryostat base will be a precious asset in the current operation.

"There are some very specific challenges to the welding of this massive component," explains Anil Bhardwaj, the leader of the Cryostat & Auxiliaries Group. "It has a rather thick skin, a large circular opening at its centre and a complex arrangement of ribs underneath. Distortions due to the welding process will be a constant preoccupation and will require constant monitoring."

As is traditional in India, a ''coconut ceremony'' placed the upcoming welding operation under the protection of Ganesha, the ''Remover of Obstacles.'' (Click to view larger version...)
As is traditional in India, a ''coconut ceremony'' placed the upcoming welding operation under the protection of Ganesha, the ''Remover of Obstacles.''
The cryostat top lid is made of twelve 30-degree sections that will require approximately 300 metres of deep welds (50 millimetres deep on average, but up to 280 millimetres at the flange levels) and more than 4 tonnes of filler metal.

After the cryostat base, lower cylinder and upper cylinder, the top lid will be the last section of the ITER cryostat assembled and welded in India's on-site Cryostat Workshop.



return to the latest published articles