When referring to the 100 large pieces of equipment that must be installed in the Tokamak Building to create the magnet feeder network, the assembly team likes to make a distinction. “Gallery” components are the feeder segments that are installed outside of (and up to) the vacuum barrier of the machine—the cryostat. “In-cryostat” segments are on the opposite side of that same barrier, directly connected to the magnets. This month, a milestone was reached for the gallery components as the teams installed the 62nd and final element. Feeders are the lifelines of the ITER magnet system, transporting everything they need to operate—cryogenic fluids, power, instrumentation—from the "warm" environment outside the machine in to the "cold" superconducting magnets operating at minus 270 °C. Under the procurement responsibility of ITER China, the feeders are manufactured in three fully instrumented segments and shipped to ITER for final assembly on site.Built from nearly 100 large components—some 1,600 tonnes of equipment in all—the magnet feeder system is one of the major installation projects underway in the Tokamak Complex. The reception team at ITER, including assembly specialists. Nicholas Clayton, technical responsible officer for coil terminal boxes, is in the front row (second from the left). Magnet feeders evoke giant syringes that taper the closer they get to the magnets. Once fully assembled, these “thruways” can run as long as 40 metres in length. Thirty-one of these giant components will feed the toroidal, poloidal, central solenoid and correction magnet coils from their positions above or below the machine.Two out of three of the segments required to build a magnet feeder are installed on supports outside of the ITER cryostat and are considered “gallery components” by the installation teams. These include the coil termination boxes—which are the furthest away from the machine, housing equipment that might require maintenance like cryo-valves, warm-to-cold electrical transition components, and sensors—and cryostat feedthroughs, which ferry the cryogens, the power, and the instrumentation through the concrete bioshield into the cryostat.The final elements, in-cryostat feeders, adopt a variety of shapes inside the cryostat as they navigate the crowded environment to reach the magnet connectors. 21 magnet feeders at the bottom of the machine (B2 level) and 10 at the top (L3 level) carry cryogens, power and instrumentation for the superconducting magnets. In blue, are the coil termination boxes that complete the gallery components of the feeder system, including the one (top left) that was installed this month. With the arrival of the last coil termination box on 19 September and its installation three days later, all 31* coil termination boxes and 31 cryostat feedthroughs have been delivered and installed, completing the gallery portion of the feeder system.“From the start of manufacturing at ASIPP in China in 2015 to the delivery of the last gallery component this month, 10 years have passed,” says Man Su, technical responsible officer for the feeder system. “These were exciting years and this milestone is truly gratifying. I want to stress the collaborative nature of the work accomplished and recognize the important contributions of many at the Chinese Domestic Agency, ASIPP, and the ITER Organization—including workers, quality control and technical officers, and logistics teams.*One coil termination box has been temporarily installed for use at the ITER magnet cold test facility, where several toroidal field coil magnets and one poloidal field coil will be tested before installation in the machine.See the gallery below for more images of the feeder installation project. 

San Diego, California has long been a notable location for fusion energy buffs. The largest US-based tokamak, DIII-D, is housed there at General Atomics. From the earliest days of conceptual and engineering design work for ITER, San Diego was a major centre of fusion research activity, making it appropriate that the ITER central solenoid, manufactured at General Atomics, is often referred to as the “beating heart” of the ITER tokamak. Yet despite that well-known history, the visit to ITER last week by more than 40 dignitaries from academia, government, and the private sector in San Diego produced some eye-opening moments. The bottom line? The city is positioning itself strategically as a hub for fusion energy R&D. The visit to ITER on Thursday 25 September was part of a larger trade mission—and as such included a remarkable cross-section of experts from the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the broader University of California network, the Port Authority of San Diego, NGOs, local and regional government, and even the investment community. In the morning, the leading officials were in Marseille to sign a “sister city” agreement anticipating a broad scope of future collaboration.In parallel, an advance group of key players from the delegation came to ITER to meet with Director-General Barabaschi and selected technical experts in order to describe the broad variety of new fusion initiatives coalescing around San Diego—and more broadly, California.The list is long and growing.UCSD has launched the Fusion Engineering Institute, and the Director of the Institute—Javier Garay—was at ITER to provide the details.Al Pisano, the UCSD Dean of Engineering, Al Pisano, was also present as his school is hosting the new institute. Together they described:- the investment UCSD is making into a material testing facility for fusion material synthesis and relevant performance testing; and - an emerging focus on AI, machine learning and data science for fusion in collaboration with Nvidia and other leaders, citing the new fusion data centre funded by the US Department of Energy to be hosted by General Atomics.UCSD will also become the host for the Fusion Power Associates (FPA), with UCSD professors in the president and senior vice president roles.Now that General Atomics has completed the fabrication of ITER central solenoid modules, the giant manufacturing hall will be converted to a dedicated blanket test facility.General Atomics has also invested in Fusion Fuel Cycles, Inc., a collaboration with Kyoto Fusioneering and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.Across the full range of these and other fusion research topics (e.g., plasma diagnostics research), General Atomics, UCSD, and other regional players are collaborating to build a full-fledged regional fusion hub featuring—in the words of Anantha Krishnan, senior vice president of the energy group at General Atomics—“foundational capabilities for the entire fusion community.” This San Diego hub is seen as complementary to a Northern California hub more focused on inertial confinement fusion and centred around the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility. The State of California has signaled its support for the development of a fusion ecosystem, with several bills and resolutions already making their way through the state legislature.The day was topped off by the arrival of the full delegation for a worksite visit, headlined by US Congressman Scott Peters, who represents the San Diego district, and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who also serves as the vice president of the US Conference of Mayors. Both officials voiced their strong support for fusion energy and, as always, the group was deeply impressed by the ITER worksite tour. This tour was perhaps a bit more special than most, as the engineers, factory owners, and supporters who had recently celebrated the completion of the final module of the ITER central solenoid were able to see the central solenoid stack in full assembly mode in the ITER Assembly Hall.

The torus of a tokamak is often described as “donut-shaped.” And although it had been quite some time since ITER last offered tokamak donuts to participants at a conference, we learned earlier this month that they still prove to be a highlight. Even with the delicious competition served up at the 69th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, with delegates from more than 130 countries and many international organizations participating, the ITER exhibition drew consistent attention all week. The IAEA has been closely involved in the development of the ITER project since its genesis. Early cooperation and negotiation phases took place under the auspices of the IAEA, and even today the Director General of the IAEA remains the depositary of the ITER Agreement. This strong bond becomes especially apparent once per year.The annual IAEA General Conference with its thousands of participants is a huge stage for high-ranking officials and representatives from IAEA Member States to meet and discuss a wide range of nuclear technologies, applications and policies. During the five-day event each head of delegation has the chance to address the plenary session. Representing ITER, Director-General Pietro Barabaschi gave a recorded speech (read the transcript here), during which he summarized the unprecedented progress made since project re-baselining in 2024 as “ITER’s strongest performance to date.”  At the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna, a side event on fusion drew a crowd. Titled "Framework for fusion: Insights from ITER and European Prospects for International Standards," it featured representatives of the nuclear safety and radiation protection authorities from France (ASNR) and Germany (BMUKN), the ITER Organization, and the European Commission sharing their views and experience and discussing the prospects of establishing technical and regulatory standards that could apply to future fusion facilities. The growing interest in fusion energy called for a special side event this year focusing on the regulatory framework for fusion facilities. The conference room was packed, with standing room only—the large number of attendees and the enthusiastic Q&A session proving that this is a topic of interest to the community. The French Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR), the ITER Organization, the European Commission and the German Government shared their experience with the safety demonstration strategy adopted by ITER before discussions turned to the future. What will the requirements be for a large, commercial fusion facility? Above all, the IAEA General Conference is always a superb location for networking and interacting. ITER Director-General Barabaschi used the occasion to meet with the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, the US Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Indian Department of Atomic Energy, the Korean Vice-Minister of Science and ICT, and other governmental and inter-governmental leaders. Fusion energy is increasingly a topic of interest and discussion across the public and private sectors. The IAEA’s presence as a recognized leader in establishing international standards and providing a forum for discussion remains an asset for all. 

For four days in late September, world nuclear experts gathered at the VDNKh exhibition centre in Moscow for World Atomic Week. A special session was devoted to fusion energy. The international event was attended by Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Sama Bilbao y Leon, Director General of World Nuclear Association; the leaders of countries with developed or developing nuclear programs; leading world experts; and heads of large corporations. Alain Bécoulet, ITER's Deputy Director-General for Science & Integration, took part in a dedicated session on fusion, where he evoked Russia's important role in the development of fusion science and technology, discussed the prospects for fusion energy generally, and updated participants on the status of ITER. "Since the beginning of 2024 we have adhered to our updated baseline schedule and we are progressing at a very good pace. This is our shared achievement, thanks to all partner countries including Russia." Anatoly Krasilnikov, head of the ITER Russia Domestic Agency, emphasized how the ITER project is providing the foundation for current and future research in Russia and the other ITER Members. "ITER has served as a catalyst for the development of fusion and we are advancing our own national program based on it."  During a visit to the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Deputy Director-General Bécoulet also took the time to promote the value of a career in fusion. "Our mission is to entrust the unique ITER machine to a new generation of specialists who are prepared to operate it. This preparation must begin now. We seek not just young scientists, but also individuals empowered by next-generation technologies, including artificial intelligence and digital twins."To read more about the event, see this website.