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Manufacturing milestone

General Atomics celebrates central solenoid completion

1 Sep 2025 - Laban Coblentz, Head of Communication

Following 15 years of hosting the design and construction of the world’s largest superconducting magnet, last week the Magnet Technology Center near San Diego, California, became an auditorium and exhibit space to celebrate the completion of the ITER central solenoid. United States Congressman Scott Peters and Mayor of San Diego Todd Gloria were on hand to headline the ceremony, together with Neal Blue, the proud CEO and Chairman of General Atomics, and many other dignitaries. Video tributes poured in from multiple US senators and representatives, as well as from members of the California State Congress. Throughout the event, a central theme echoed: local pride at being part of the ITER global fusion initiative, coupled with determination to build San Diego into a national and global hub for fusion R&D.

Scientists, engineers, team members and dignitaries were on hand to celebrate the completion of the ITER central solenoid magnet, in a ceremony organized at General Atomics (USA) on 28 August 2025.

The central solenoid, when completed, will weigh 1,000 tonnes and be roughly the height of a five-story building, with a stored magnetic energy of 6.4 gigajoules and a maximum field of 13 tesla. Positioned along the central axis of the ITER tokamak, it will enable a powerful pulsed current of 15 megaamperes to be induced in the plasma for 300-500 seconds. The central solenoid will work in conjunction with the poloidal field magnets to control and shape the fusion plasma.

General Atomics has constructed the central solenoid in six independent coil packs, plus a spare seventh module, wound from niobium-tin superconducting cable produced in Japan. One by one, these modules have been tested, packed, and shipped to ITER. Five have arrived so far; the sixth was completed in April and is en route, while the seventh took its place as an impressive backdrop for the celebration (see photos).

“The central solenoid is unlike anything that has ever been built,” was the characterization given by Nikolai Norausky, program manager of the central solenoid project at General Atomics. “We’re talking about orders of magnitude of scale. We had to develop a modern supply chain. Often our suppliers were dealing with the largest, or the heaviest, or the most precise aspects of their technologies. And we had to bring all that in to develop the manufacturing know-how, and the tooling, in order to produce the central solenoid magnets.”

In July, the US Congress passed an official resolution recognizing the completion of the ITER central solenoid. During the completion ceremony at the end of August, US Representative Scott Peters (right) presented a copy of the Congressional Record to Neal Blue, CEO and Chairman of General Atomics.

For many years, General Atomics has been a leader in nuclear research in fields ranging from electromagnetics to the production of the precisely shaped fuel targets used in inertial confinement fusion. General Atomics operates the DIII-D tokamak—the largest fusion facility in the United States—on behalf of the US Department of Energy. The company is also producing several plasma diagnostics for ITER. Now that central solenoid manufacturing is completed, the magnet technology hall where the modules were produced will be converted into a blanket test facility.

In his congratulatory remarks, Congressman Peters noted that he, together with Mayor Gloria and a sizable San Diego delegation, will be taking part in a trade mission to France in September, where they plan to visit the ITER worksite. The highlight, of course, will be to see the central solenoid modules being stacked in the ITER Assembly Hall, in the next stage of the component's journey.

Read the General Atomics press release here.

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