For an ITER vacuum expert travelling to India, a collection of in-wall shielding blocks, a cryostat pedestal ring or the full-scale mockup of a cryoline section can more than match in awe and excitement the Taj Mahal, the Khajuraho Temples or the Jaipur Palace. Like ordinary visitors, vacuum experts try to pack as many destinations as possible into their schedule. Why not take advantage of the start of manufacturing on a vacuum sealing test rig in Bangalore to visit other factories manufacturing ITER's vacuum-related components? Or once in Mumbai, why not take the local train and auto rickshaw to visit the Larsen & Toubro Ltd factory in Hazira, less than half an hour away, before continuing further north to Gandhinagar to work with colleagues at the Institute of Plasma Research?The trip that ITER Vacuum Section Leader Robert Pearce and vacuum mechanical engineer Eamonn Quinn took to India a few weeks ago was of course not about tourism. As India is involved with many of the industrial components that have vacuum requirements or implications it was important, in Robert's words, "to see for ourselves how our standards are applied and to help to improve efficiency in manufacturing."At Avasarala Technologies Ltd, where in-wall shielding blocks have entered production; at Larsen & Toubro Ltd, where vacuum leak tests are being performed on kilometre-long lengths of cryostat welds; and in other factories and labs, "the demonstration of engineering excellence was truly refreshing to see," says Eamonn.The initial reason for travelling to India was the port plug sealing test rig, which is expected to be built at Vacuum Techniques (P) Ltd—one of India's largest and most experienced suppliers of high vacuum equipment.In the ITER Tokamak, some 30 port plugs will provide the interface between the vacuum vessel and systems such as heating and diagnostics. They are large (2 x 2.5 metres), heavy (45 tons), and the quality of the sealing is critical to maintaining high vacuum inside the plasma chamber. "No one has ever done rectangular metallic demountable sealing of the size required by the ITER port plugs," explains Robert. Nine people can easily stand in the cryostat opening for the torus cryopump housing. At the Larsen & Toubro factory in Hazira, ITER vacuum experts witnessed progress in the testing of the welds and in the manufacturing of the pedestal ring and the lower cylinder of the cryostat. In the first row, Eamonn Quinn (left) and Robert Pearce. After two days of discussion the team headed to Avasarala Technologies Ltd, where an impressive view awaited them: thousands upon thousands of in-wall shielding plates. Made of a sandwich of borated steel blocks, the plates will be fitted between the inner and outer walls of the vacuum vessel to provide radiation protection for the magnets.The blocks also have a role to play during leak testing of the vacuum vessel, when the interspace will be placed under vacuum. "The blocks need to be perfectly clean and perfectly bolted together so that no gas can be trapped between them," explains the team. The cleanliness and the venting arrangements at the factory proved to be top standard and the vacuum requirements are closely checked by the Indian Domestic Agency, which has a representative on site on a permanent basis.A short flight to Mumbai and a three-hour train ride later, the pair of vacuum experts was in Hazira, 1,300 kilometres to the north, where Larsen & Toubro Ltd is manufacturing the 54 segments of the ITER cryostat—the giant thermos that ensures the thermal insulation of the superconducting magnets.For cryostat manufacturing, the strict observance of vacuum requirements—especially in relation to the welds—is paramount. Using the "hood technique" (leak-tight vacuum cups of 15 different sizes and shapes that are affixed to the weld) and mass spectrometry, Larsen & Toubro has successfully tested 15 percent of the welds made at the factory (665 m out of 4,500 km). Robert and Eamonn also witnessed progress in the manufacturing of the pedestal ring and the lower cylinder of the cryostat, where ITER's cryopumps will be located.There was one last stop, many hours to the north by train, before heading back to ITER—Gandhinagar, home of the Institute of Plasma Research and the Indian Domestic Agency. Two full days of meetings on many items including the diagnostics neutral beam injector, diagnostic vacuums, and cryogenic supplies were capped off with a lecture on ITER's vacuum system delivered to a packed auditorium.At the Institute of Plasma Research, the pair of ITER vacuum experts felt at home. "Based on their experience with the SST-1 tokamak, which we got a chance to visit, India really understands the importance of high vacuum standards," says Robert. "And as they are procuring quite a lot of vacuum or vacuum-related items, that's a strong guarantee for the success of ITER."Upon reflexion, there was a bit of the tourist's experience during this 9-day trip to India—Robert was blessed by being gouged by a sacred cow in Mumbai and both suffered the consequences of being adventurous with the food on their way home ...

The preliminary design phase for the Chinese Test Blanket System was launched on 3-4 March during a kick-off meeting held in Beijing. This important milestone followed the successful conclusion of the conceptual design phase in September 2015.   Tritium breeding self-sufficiency is compulsory in future large-scale fusion power plants. Scientists know that tritium can be produced within the tokamak when neutrons escaping the plasma interact with a specific element, lithium, contained in the blanket. Six technological solutions for a tritium breeding blanket—in the form of Test Blanket Modules (TBMs)—will be operated and tested for the first time in ITER. Combined with their ancillary systems (cooling, tritium extraction, measurements) they form the six Test Blanket Systems that are designed and procured by various Domestic Agencies.   Although the systems are all based on the principle of interaction between fusion neutrons and lithium, each one is unique in its architecture, its structural materials, its cooling system, the form of its lithium (solid or liquid), and the manner in which the tritium will be extracted. The Chinese concept—called the Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Test Blanket System (HCCB-TBS)—is the first Test Blanket System to enter its preliminary design phase.   Test Blanket Modules like the HCCB TBM set will be integrated into port cells in order to have a front-row seat in the vacuum vessel. Located a distance away from the front-facing sets are ancillary systems such as the helium cooling system (HCS), the tritium extraction system (TES) and measurement systems. A detailed work plan was officially presented by the Chinese Test Blanket System team during the kick-off meeting, chaired by the Chinese TBM Leader Chuanhong Pan and held in presence of the head of the Chinese Domestic Agency, Luo Delong, of representatives of the ITER Organization, and of experts from the three main Chinese institutes involved in the Test Blanket System development program: the Southwestern Institute of Physics (SWIP, Chengdu), the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP, Chengdu) and the Institute of Nuclear Safety Energy Technology (INEST, Hefei).   The work plan details the preliminary and final design phases (and the necessary R&D) for the various sub-systems and components of the HCCB-TBS such as the helium-cooling system, the tritium extraction system, the tritium accountancy system, and instrumentation and control. Participants at the meeting also discussed the required studies concerning safety and integration, and the design of a number of components that will be common to the two systems located in the same ITER equatorial port: the Chinese HCCB-TBS and Test Blanket System procured by India (the Lithium-Lead Ceramic Breeder, or LLCB-TBS).   Everything is now in place for the preliminary and final design activities to be performed for the Chinese Test Blanket System.  

Once per year Karl-Heinz Meiwes-Broer, a physics professor from Rostock University in Germany, hooks his glider up to his car and heads south towards Vinon-sur-Verdon. This village near the ITER construction site is France's gliding heaven.   From the air, at a height of 1,000 metres, the view of the ITER worksite is spectacular—the density of cranes and equipment in the Tokamak Complex area a sure indication of the intensity of ongoing work.   Large expanses of bare land still appear, but they're not devoid of activity. To the right of the photo, north of the concrete batching plant, preparatory works are under way for the cooling towers. North of the 257-metre-long coil winding facility, past the foundation works for the cryoplant, contractors are carrying out soil investigations for the Magnet Conversion Power buildings.  We all wish we could fly in a glider to take in the ITER site from a bird's eye view. Prof Meiwes-Broer does that frequently—but this time what he really wished for was to take a full tour of ITER from the ground. That's a wish that came true last week.

Progress on the MAST Upgrade project at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE) took another step forward from the "page" to completion, as the tokamak's bottom plate was lowered into place in the machine area last week. Positioning of the 11-tonne bottom plate, which contains intricately-engineered magnetic coils assembled over many months, went smoothly. The team hopes to have the device ready for commissioning at the end of 2016. See a video of the operation on the CCFE website.

European Domestic Agency contractors have made significant progress in the fabrication of the first toroidal field winding pack—the 110-ton inner core of ITER's D-shaped superconducting magnets known as toroidal field coils. Following sophisticated, multi-stage winding operations, seven layers of coiled superconducting cable (double pancakes) have now been successfully stacked and electrically insulated. After vacuum-pressure insulation and testing, the winding pack will be inserted into a massive stainless steel case to form a final assembly that measures 9 x 17 metres and weighs 310 tons. Eighteen D-shaped toroidal field coils—each made up of a winding pack and stainless steel coil case—will be responsible for magnetically confining the ITER plasma. Europe has the responsibility for half the coils plus one spare; Japan is producing another 9. The 19 stainless steel coil cases will be procured by Japan. Beginning with the first manufacturing steps for the niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) superconducting wire in 2008, Europe estimates that over 600 people from at least 26 companies have contributed to this milestone. Read the full report on the European Domestic Agency website. --Europe's A. Bonito-Oliva, project manager for magnets, and R. Harrison, technical officer for magnets, stand in front of the first toroidal field coil winding pack at ASG Superconductors (La Spezia, Italy).

By John Greenwald Big Bang neutrinos are believed to be everywhere in the universe but have never been seen. The expansion of the universe has stretched them and they are thought to be billions of times colder than neutrinos that stream from the sun. As the oldest known witnesses or "relics" of the early universe, they could shed new light on the birth of the cosmos if scientists could pin them down. That's a tall order since these ghostly particles can speed through planets as if they were empty space. Now Princeton University physicist Chris Tully is readying a facility to detect these information-rich relics that appeared one second after the Big Bang, during the onset of the epoch that fused protons and neutrons to create all the light elements in the universe. Tully runs a prototype lab in the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) that draws on the fact that neutrinos can be captured by tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, and provide a tiny boost of energy to the electrons emitted in tritium decay. --Princeton physicist Chris Tully in the PTOLEMY laboratory. Behind him are powerful superconducting magnets on either side of the vacuum chamber. Photo Elle Starkman/PPPL Read the whole article on the PPPL website.

The deadline is fast approaching to submit a proposal to the 2016 SOFT Innovation Prize, launched by the European Commission late last year for award at the 29th SOFT (Symposium on Fusion Technology) international conference in Prague in September. Proposals are requested for physics or technology innovations related to magnetic confinement fusion research that have a potential for further exploitation. Three prizes will be awarded: EUR 50,000 (1st prize), EUR 25,000 (2nd prize) and EUR 12,500 (3rd prize). The deadline for submission is 7 April 2016. For more information on eligibility, exclusion and award criteria please see Europe's Horizon 2020 website.