Second successful test for the ITER Itinerary

The 33-metre-long customized trailer, with its mock load of concrete blocks weighing 800 tons, had begun its journey in the town of Fos-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday 1 April. It travelled along the 104-kilometre ITER Itinerary over four nights, escorted by police officers, technical personnel and support vehicles. 

The first ITER test convoy, organized from 16-20 September 2013, had been conceived to verify the physical resistance of key points along the Itinerary such as bridges and intersections. The second convoy, which arrived early this morning at the ITER site, tested global logistics and organization. 

For the first time, the maritime leg of the Itinerary was successfully carried out. On 31 March, the trailer and its load crossed the inland sea Étang de Berre by barge in a voyage that lasted four hours, from Fos-sur-Mer (Quay Gloria) to Berre l’Étang (Port de la Pointe). 

The test convoy started on the 104-kilometre land Itinerary on 1 April. Incidents with the trailer's hydraulic system slightly delayed the convoy on the first night; on the second night repeated incidents with the hydraulic system caused the schedule to be reorganized, which delayed the final arrival of the test convoy by four days (convoys along the Itinerary remain stationary during the day and during weekends). 

Ahead of schedule by several hours, the test convoy arrived successfully at the ITER site on Tuesday 8 April, where it was greeted by ITER Organization Director-General Osamu Motojima. 

“For the duration of this test campaign you have mastered the complex logistics and overcome some serious technical difficulties,” declared the Director-General to the responsible persons gathered. “For that I wish to express my most profound gratitude […] The part you play in the ITER Project is essential. The convoys are the vital link between the manufacturing of the components in factories throughout the world and their assembly here on the ITER site. Without you, there can be no ITER.” 

Numerous officials had responded positively to the invitation of Director-General Motojima to be present for the arrival of the convoy, including Jean-René Vacher, prefect and head of the Southern Defence Command, and General David Galtier, head of the Gendarmerie forces in the Provence Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) Region. 

Organized by Agence Iter France in close collaboration with the French authorities, planned and executed by the logistics service provider DAHER, and financed by the European Domestic Agency for ITER Fusion for Energy—the second test convoy, like the first, replicated the exceptional weight and dimensions of the future ITER components. This was the final test campaign before the transport of ITER components begins at the end of the year. From 2014 to 2020, approximately 230 exceptional convoys are expected to travel along the ITER Itinerary. 

BACKGROUND TO THE PRESS RELEASE 

ITER—designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power—will be the world's largest experimental fusion facility. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars: when light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released. Fusion research is aimed at developing a safe, abundant and environmentally responsible energy source. 

ITER is also a first-of-a-kind global collaboration. Europe will contribute almost half of the costs of its construction, while the other six Members to this joint international venture (China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA), will contribute equally to the rest. The ITER Project is under construction in Saint Paul-lez-Durance, in the south of France. 

Photos of the second ITER Itinerary test convoy can be found in our on-line album. 

More information on the transport of ITER components can be found at: http://www.iter.org/transport.

CONTACT

Michel Claessens 
michel.claessens@iter.org 
+33 6 14 16 41 75