This 740 m² laboratory building already houses the ITER vacuum laboratory, where vacuum components can be tested before installation in the machine. As a partner in the construction, the Tritium Plant Section also has a space reservation in the building, and will be installing equipment to test prototype and first-production fuel cycle components. Identifying this type of use-of-space synergy and putting it into practice is an example of how the ITER CMO team works to implement holistic space management on the ITER site.
The American statesman Ben Franklin is credited with saying that a successful organization requires "a place for everything and everything in its place." Or, as ITER Facility Management Officer Guillaume Roux puts it, "you don't want to put a cat in a room built for an elephant."
Guillaume Roux, from the ITER Construction Management Office, was involved from the project's earliest days and saw the project through to completion.
With the partners in place, a budget was approved for a building with 740m² of floor space for major testing and a 140m² mezzanine for lighter testing. The tender went out in January 2021 and a consortium of French firms—CHAPUS as leader along with MCM, FCIE, and Actemium—began construction in May 2021. For Roux, who grew up in a family of masons and previously had his own construction company, this part was second nature.
