Assembly of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor has reached a new milestone with the successful installation of the sixth of nine tokamak sector modules. The component, a 40-degree segment of the vacuum vessel, was lowered into the ITER tokamak pit in France, a process completed almost six months ahead of the revised 2024 baseline schedule. This achievement keeps the project on track for the installation of the final sector, which is anticipated in approximately one year. The complex operation involves lifting and precisely positioning the massive component, a critical step in forming the toroidal chamber that will contain the fusion plasma. Source: World Nuclear News

Each sector module is a substantial pre-assembled unit, standing 14 meters high and weighing 440 tonnes. The primary structure is the D-shaped vacuum vessel segment, which is integrated with two D-shaped toroidal field coils and silver-coated thermal shields before being moved to the assembly pit. The toroidal field coils are essential for generating the primary magnetic field required for plasma confinement in a tokamak configuration. The thermal shields serve to insulate the superconducting magnets, which must be kept at cryogenic temperatures, from the intense heat of the vacuum vessel. The sheer scale and multi-component nature of each sector underscore the engineering complexity of the project. Source: World Nuclear News

Each sector module is a substantial pre-assembled unit, standing 14 meters high and weighing 440 tonnes.

The installation procedure is a high-precision maneuver managed by the ITER Organization. An overhead bridge crane is used to lift the 440-tonne sector and lower it into the concrete bioshield that constitutes the tokamak pit. The component must be positioned with sub-millimeter accuracy to ensure proper alignment with adjacent sectors and other critical systems, such as the central solenoid and poloidal field coils. Once all nine sectors are in place and welded together, they will form a hermetically sealed toroidal structure, the vacuum vessel, with a total plasma volume of 840 cubic meters. This vessel is the first confinement barrier and is designed to operate under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Source: World Nuclear News

With two-thirds of the main vacuum vessel now assembled, the project is visibly progressing toward the completion of the core machine. The subsequent phases of assembly will involve welding the sectors together to form a contiguous torus, installing the in-vessel components like the blanket and divertor, and completing the connections for the magnet, cryogenic, and vacuum systems. The accelerated pace of the sector installation is a positive indicator for the project's complex supply chain and on-site construction logistics. The successful integration of these large-scale, high-precision components is fundamental to achieving the project's ultimate goal: demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy at a reactor scale, targeting a Q_plasma of 10. Source: World Nuclear News