As the CEA-Euratom tokamak Tore Supra undergoes a major transformation to be used as a test bench for ITER, its innards are being progressively disassembled. From huge heating antennas to the intricate network of piping that used to cool the limiteur (Tore Supra's equivalent of a divertor), most of the in-vessel components are now carefully wrapped and stored in an annex of the vast tokamak hall—a spectacular indication of how complex a machine a tokamak can be. Four years from now, the 26-year-old tokamak will be a brand new machine. Extra magnetic coils will be added to confine the originally circular plasma into an ITER-like "D" shape and the carbon limiteur will be replaced by a tungsten divertor closely resembling that of ITER. However, in advance of that date (as early as 2016) the machine will be ready to test the first samples of plasma-facing units—an arrangement of small tungsten blocks that, once assembled, will form the new divertor. The WEST project (W Environment in Steady-state Tokamak), initiated in 2009, is now entering a decisive phase: as dismantling ends (1,500 components, representing 65 tons of hardware, have been handled), industry is beginning to launch pre-series fabrication and a wide international collaboration is being established. "With this new configuration, the machine's divertor will be exposed to the same heat flux as in ITER," explains Jérôme Bucalossi, who heads the WEST project at CEA's Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion Magnétique (IRFM). Like in ITER, the WEST divertor will have to withstand a 10 MW/m2 heat load, comparable to that which an improbable spaceship would face in the immediate vicinity of the Sun's surface. How will the tungsten plasma-facing units behave in such an extreme environment? How close to one another should they be assembled? What will be the consequences of a slight misalignment of the individual blocks? WEST should answer these questions that are of vital importance for ITER. "WEST is more than a test bench for the ITER divertor—it's a 'risk limiter' as well," says Bucalossi. "It will enable us to validate tungsten technology, acquire data on metal fatigue and explore the components' boundary conditions, particularly in terms of adjustment." Although the design of the ITER divertor is close to finalization, WEST feedback can still have influence on some details. "And as we all know," smiles Bucalossi, "this is where the Devil likes to hide..."

With only 26 percent of its national demand for energy met through domestic resources, Turkey is highly dependent on fuel imports, primarily oil and gas.Electricity production has already doubled since 2001 and will have to double again by 2020 in order to meet the needs of the fast-growing economy. Turkey aims to produce 30 percent of its electricity by way of renewables in 2023 and intends to establish 10 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2030.In this context, fusion energy is the focus of strong interest from Turkish laboratories, government circles and utility companies."We need to contemplate all the options," said Ms Deniz Erdoğan Barım, the Turkish Consul General in Marseille, who visited the ITER construction site on Wednesday 29 January. "It was very important for me to take the measure of the ITER Project, of the complexity of its organization and of the challenges of its schedule."The Consul General showed great enthusiasm for ITER and fusion energy as she discussed the project at length with ITER Director-General Osamu Motojima, who welcomes Turkey's interest in ITER.

Seen from the entrance of the ITER Headquarters, the Massif des Écrins, with summits between 3,000 and 4,100 meters, glimmers in the evening light. The buildings of the Vinon-sur-Verdon aeroclub are at the forefront.   The Barre des Écrins (Alt. 4102 m), the highest summit in the range, was France's highest until 1860 when, following the annexation of the Duchy of Savoy, it was dethroned by the Mont Blanc (Alt. 4807 m).   The Vinon-sur-Verdon aeroclub is at the forefront of the picture; center right is the village of Villeneuve.

The use of 3D technology for assessing design maturity and performing assembly simulations is key to large construction projects such as ITER.   After two years of relying on technology installed at the neighbouring CEA Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research (IRFM), the ITER Organization this week celebrated the official inauguration of its own virtual reality room.   The technology was installed at the end of last year in a small annex at the back of the former Headquarters building. Once the new extension to ITER Headquarters is finalized, the equipment will be moved to its permanent location in a dedicated area for virtual reality.    The visualization software, Techviz, enables the design engineers to literally "walk through" the ITER machine and the surrounding Tokamak Complex. The 2.5 x 4 m screen makes cooling water piping, vessel supports and any other plant system or component appear true-to-size. "This is certainly impressive to see and, admittedly, also fun," says Jens Reich, who is managing the design integration of the Tokamak.   "A 3D tool like this is essential from the design integration point of view. It allows us to check the design of mechanical and plant systems or certain construction features. And it allows us to discuss interfaces in front of the big screen directly with the representatives of the different areas. Remote participation of our colleagues in the Domestic Agencies, during review meetings for example, is also foreseen."   And there is another nice feature of this technology: with the help of a special set of target points it is possible to immerse people—virtually—into the corridors and utility shafts, allowing accessibility studies in certain restricted areas.   The annex building containing such sophisticated technology is connected to the Enovia design software which allows the loading of the 3D data directly from the ITER CAD database. Several members from within the Design Integration team are currently undergoing special training in order to operate the technology and to answer to the increasingly frequent requests for the use of this new tool.

The ITER Tokamak seems to be quite a source of inspiration for Lego aficionados. In June 2012, Newsline reported on Japanese artist Sachiko Akinaga who had created an 8,000-piece ITER mockup that was both realistic and naïve, using standard Lego bricks. A new Lego venture is now creating a lot of excitement within the worldwide fusion community. Another Lego fan is working hard to convince the Lego company to bring the ITER Tokamak into the commercial production line. Yes—a Lego set that would enable children to build a cutaway section of the ITER Tokamak. Andrew Clark is an "Environment and Texture Artist" with Firaxis Games, a Baltimore-based game development studio that produced such blockbusters as Sid Meier's Civilization and X:COM Enemy Unknown. Andrew has done a lot of computer wizardry to model and to "texture" environments such as terrain or skies, but he's retained a nostalgia for the simplicity and the almost unlimited creative potential of Lego bricks. And recently, as he told Newsline, he "started getting back into it." "I came across the Lego Cuusoo website," he explains, "which enables people to submit designs that Lego, under certain conditions, can use as a basis for an official Lego set. I started to think of ideas..." The ITER Project had already attracted Andrew's attention: "The idea that we can create fusion, the process that powers the stars, inspired me strongly. So I visited the ITER website and the internet to gather as much material as I could find." Baltimore-based artist Andrew Clark is working hard to convince the Lego company to bring the ITER Tokamak into the commercial production line. Andrew first worked with Lego Digital Designer, free software for creating original Lego designs. The next step was to go from virtual to actual, using available bricks and components to create a real Lego construction. The operation took a whole weekend, plus some tweaking the following Monday. The result was a striking (and beautiful) rendition of the complex arrangement of the modules, piping, ports and feeders that form the central part of the ITER Tokamak. But now comes the hardest part. While the Lego company encourages users to create original models, it will only consider making them into an "official set" (and in that case launching fabrication and commercialization) once the project has received 10,000 votes of support on the Lego website. So we all know what we have to do now: go to the Lego Cuusoo site and press the green "Support" button. There's still a long way to go to get to 10,000 votes ... fusion in Lego appears to be as difficult as fusion in real life.