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Images of the week

Vacuum vessel: only one sector to go

11 May 2026

The European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy delivered sector #3 of the ITER vacuum vessel on Thursday 7 May. Only one more sector is needed to build the ITER plasma chamber.

Vacuum vessel sector #3 is brought into an ITER workshop on a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT).

The arrival of vacuum vessel sector #3 marks another major milestone for the ITER assembly program. Manufactured in Europe by the AMW consortium—Ansaldo Nucleare, Westinghouse, and Walter Tosto—the 440-tonne component reached the ITER site last week after a multi-stage journey from Italy by sea, barge, and road. Europe is responsible for five of the nine sectors that will form the torus-shaped vacuum vessel at the heart of the ITER tokamak.

Sector #3 is the fourth supplied by Europe and the eighth vacuum vessel sector delivered to ITER overall. Once inspection and preparation activities are completed, teams will integrate the sector with its thermal shield and a pair of toroidal field coils to create a fully equipped sector module for installation in the tokamak pit. The Procurement Arrangement for the sectors was signed between the ITER Organization and Fusion for Energy in 2009. With only one sector now outstanding, the conclusion of a nearly 20-year industrial adventure is coming into view.

The AMW consortium worked with more than 15 European companies and directly mobilized 150 professionals to manufacture the sectors. From the machining of raw forgings to the assembly, welding and final machining of completed sectors, the process required hundreds of intermediate tasks and interaction between teams across Europe.

The final sector, vacuum vessel sector #2, is scheduled for delivery this autumn.

 

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