Twelve years after construction work began on the ITER platform, the installation has acquired its near-final appearance. More than 85 percent of civil works are now completed and—of the 40 buildings and technical areas that the installation comprises—only a few remain to be built. One of the first things that ITER Council delegates will notice when they meet on Wednesday 15 June, in person for the first time in two years, is how the view from the corridor along the Council chamber has changed. The floor-to-ceiling windows, which used to frame a spectacular view of the heat rejection system's cooling towers, now highlight the future 'brain' of the ITER installation—a 3,500-square-metre, three-storey structure that will be home to the 60 to 80 operators, engineers and researchers tasked with 'driving' the ITER Tokamak and its auxiliary systems. For the ITER staff and contractors who happen to have an office facing in the same direction, change has been more progressive. For the moment, the works involved in the construction of the two buildings that will host the neutral beam power supply have been performed mostly underground. But on what used to be a large empty lot in front of the Tokamak Complex, structures are now beginning to appear. Ultimately, the familiar view of the crane hall's north facade will be partly hidden by the two buildings—one of them 25 metres tall. Nondescript in appearance, they will accommodate an array of transformers, generators, rectifiers, inverters and other exotic electrical devices designed to feed 1 MeV ultra high voltage to the neutral injectors for durations of up to one hour—a unique electrical engineering feat. Over the past few years, as the Tokamak Building crane hall was framed out and eventually delivered in March 2020, the construction of the adjacent Tritium Building seemed to be at a standstill. It was deliberate: in late 2018, following ITER Council approval of the updated project schedule and a staged approach to full power operation, major civil works in the Tritium Building were put on hold in order to focus the workforce on the Tokamak and Diagnostics buildings. A year ago, work resumed and has been progressing ever since, with the aim of being completed in the summer of 2023. The largest addition to the ITER platform however is yet to come. It will be in the form of a massive 200,000-cubic-metre, five-level structure sitting next to the Tokamak Complex—the Hot Cell Facility. Planning is in progress under the shared responsibility of the ITER Organization (requirements engineering, conceptual design, and the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of process equipment) and the European Domestic Agency (construction and commissioning of civil works and building services).

Robotics are everywhere. As technology develops, robots are playing an increasing role in industry, medicine, agriculture and many other fields. In ITER, the operation of mobile automated systems will be paramount in order to assemble and maintain machine components in a harsh and confined environment. The development of specific robotic applications requires inspiration, creativity and curiosity—all qualities that can be cultivated precociously. Under the Mediterranean climate with the bright sun and deep blue sky, the fateful day fell on 24 May 2022. The last day of the ITER Robots 2022 event, organized by Agence Iter France at the École des Mines de Saint-Etienne in Gardanne, France. More than 450 people—students, teachers and professionals—took part in the 11th edition to learn about robots and technology. The student teams had each built a small robot to simulate a maintenance situation inside the future ITER Tokamak machine—namely the remote handling of components that need replacement or refurbishment. In addition to the competitive events throughout the day, all the visitors enjoyed karaoke, dance and, surprisingly, the presence of two giant robots proposed by Lumynight Animations. ITER Robots 2022 proposed four events in which teams of students, from elementary school up to high school, could enter their purpose-designed robots and test their design and skill to win the prize. The challenges were composed of three types of assessment: robotics tests; a general culture test, and a communication test based on student stands. Prizes were distributed by Eric Kraus, director of Agence Iter France; Bernard Beignier, the rector of the Academy of Aix-Marseille; ITER's Alain Bécoulet, head of the Engineering Domain; and Xavier Litaudon, from the French Institute for Magnetic Fusion Research, IRFM, and EUROfusion project manager. 'For me, honestly in my heart, you have all won,' said Litaudon. 'Why? Because you have learned so many things and learning is delightful, and also you have learned how to learn.'  

In the days and weeks to come, the sector module that was installed in the Tokamak assembly pit on 11-12 May will be moved closer to its final position. Hydraulic systems in both the radial beam above the module and TIPI tables (for toroidal field coil pair installation tool) below it will progressively push the 1,250-tonne sub-assembly closer to the central column, prior to landing it on its dedicated gravity support. Metrology plays a key role in ensuring that the component's movements will be performed with the required precision. Operators need to know whether minute distortions—in the tenth of a millimetre range—have occurred during the transfer of the modular assembly from tooling in the Assembly Hall to the Tokamak pit. The rope access technician in this image is positioning 'fiducial targets' (approximately 15 on each side of the component) that will reflect the laser beams of the metrology system and provide ultra-accurate measurements.

Contributors to Europe's toroidal field coil procurement program gathered on 27 May 2022 to celebrate a 14-year industrial effort that is successfully drawing to a close.  During the ceremony at SIMIC, Boris Bellesia, Magnets Deputy Programme Manager for the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy, chose to highlight the collaboration that underlined every effort. 'Together we have accomplished some major achievements throughout the manufacturing process: the delivery of the first coil to the ITER project, the optimization of time in production, and the extremely high level of homogeneity amongst all toroidal field coils.' Fusion for Energy is providing 10 toroidal field coils to ITER from winding packs manufactured by the ASG consortium (Italy) and structural cases procured by Japan. SIMIC, also located in Italy, is the European company that has carried out the final cold testing, insertion and welding activities. From the inital definition of the procurement strategy, through manufacturing design, prototyping, project management, fabrication and testing, Fusion for Energy estimates that more than 700 people from 40 companies have been involved in the effort.  'Leadership, trust, collaboration, and decision making are key in managing such complex projects," stressed Alessandro Bonito-Oliva, Magnets Programme Manager for Fusion for Energy. "As experts, our professionalism to deliver is our main driving force. But when I think of us as people, it's the passion and enthusiasm of colleagues from Fusion for Energy, ITER, and our suppliers that made this long journey meaningful and successful.' TF14 is now on its way to ITER, and will arrive in July. Of the final two coils, one is expected later this year and the other in 2023. Nine other toroidal field coils are under the procurement responsibility of Japan. See a full event report on the Fusion for Energy website.

"From a small hill in the southern French region of Provence, you can see two suns. One has been blazing for four-and-a-half billion years and is setting. The other is being built by thousands of human minds and hands, and is—far more slowly—rising. The last of the real sun's evening rays cast a magical glow over the other—an enormous construction site that could solve the biggest existential crisis in human history." Follow journalist Boštjan Videmšek and photographer Matjaž Krivic as they take you through the science of fusion, the recent milestone at the JET tokamak, construction at ITER, and how fusion could become the "11th-hour hero" of the climate crisis. See the article on the CNN website here.