Open Doors Day
Having fun while discovering ITER
15 Apr 2024
A public event on Saturday 13 April draws a big crowd.
Much of the time crossing the Assembly Hall is spent looking up! The bridge cranes that can carry 1,500 tonnes, the giant sector sub-assembly tools, the central solenoid stack ...
It was a beautiful, summer-like day on Saturday 13 April. Perfect for a journey into ITER. Nearly 800 members of the public, were welcomed on site by an all-volunteer roster of guides, timekeepers, hosts and hostesses, plasmagicians and specialists of all kinds.
Younger people have the advantage! They get to work their way right up to the plexiglass that separates the port cell corridor from the impressive Tokamak pit. You can almost imagine the plasma whizzing around the central column.
It's a regular occurance at ITER. Twice a year since 2011, in spring and autumn (with only one notable year excepted) the gates open to visitors of all ages who have been lucky enough to secure a spot. Curiousity in the region about ITER is understandably high—after all, the tallest buildings are visible to all who drive north to the French Alpes. Open Doors Days are one way to share ITER with the public; the ITER visits team also runs a program that welcomes individuals and small groups throughout the year. (Just over 25,000 people visited ITER in all last year; since 2007 the figure tops 200,000).
For those who were not able to make it this time, another Open Doors Day event is planned in November 2024.
See the gallery below for some of the scenes from the day. Or watch "Having fun while discovering ITER" on YouTube.
Jean-Michel Mure (Fusion for Energy) brings a small group of visitors into one of the port cell corridors leading to the ITER Tokamak pit. Seeing the size of the future machine never fails to impress.
Over the years, the view from the Visitors Centre has evolved. Today, building construction is largely completed and commissioning is underway on several industrial systems.
Hans-Werner Bartels (left), head of the Central Integration Division at ITER, and Luca Zabeo (right), ITER plasma control scientist, answer questions near a model of the ITER machine. Approximately 800 members of the public took advantage of the ITER Open Doors Day on 13 April 2024.
Romain Bourgue, IT Security & Policy Responsible Officer, takes over the demonstration desk in the afternoon. Through simple experiments demonstrating magnetism, electricity and vacuum, the larger scientific principles behind ITER become understandable.
Process engineer Tazio Boatto (Fusion for Energy) helps guide visitors through the ITER machine ... virtually. At ITER, virtual reality is a precious tool for design and control activities, as well as a training platform for assembly and maintenance operations.