An outing into the future
22 May 2017
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ITER Communication
Open Doors days occur with scientific regularity at ITER (spring and autumn) and yet—due to the rapid evolution of work on site—each event offers something new. Saturday 20 May was no different: the 800 registered visitors were guided in groups of 50 across the Tokamak Building ground-level basemat—something that wouldn't have been possible just a few months ago. Under a perfectly blue Provencal sky, visitors were just a few arms' lengths from the installation arena of the world's most complex scientific instrument and the concrete wall that surrounds it.
Exceptionally, ITER visitors were able to walk out across the L1 level slab (the ground floor) of the Tokamak Building. Only one plot remains to be poured; work is already underway on the L1-level walls.
A second stop on the tour brought participants to the European coil winding facility. A short climb, and visitors had access to the viewer gallery that runs the length of the 257-metre building, where fabrication activities have begun on one of the four poloidal field magnets that will be manufactured on site.
ITER Open Doors days couldn't take place without their participation. In the end, ITER scientists and engineers return home as content as the day's visitors—happy to have shared their corner of the ITER story and, for many, to have experienced how their daily work translates into an awesome steel and concrete reality.
Specialists were on hand throughout the day at each of the tour stops as well as the Visitors Centre to guide first-time (and repeat) visitors through the complexities of fusion science and engineering, the international collaboration behind the project, and current status.
ITER Open Doors days couldn't take place without their participation. In the end, ITER scientists and engineers return home as content as the day's visitors—happy to have shared their corner of the ITER story and, for many, to have experienced how their daily work translates into an awesome steel and concrete reality.
Le coulage du béton a commencé dès avant l'aube, le 9 août 2011.
No need to leave toys at home! The tour of ITER was open to anyone aged four and up.
How to build a poloidal field coil, A to Z
In the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility, specialists were on hand to explain the different steps involved in the production of ITER's huge and powerful ring-shaped magnets.
Le mardi 30 novembre 2010, le directeur général d'lTER Organization, Osamu Motojima, et le PDG de ZURICH France, Paolo Ribotta, finalisent la procédure de signature d'un contrat d'assurance international qui couvre la construction et le montage des installations d'ITER. De nombreuses compagnies d'assurance suisses, françaises, britanniques, nord-américaines, allemandes, irlandaises, chinoises, coréennes et japonaises sont parties prenantes à ce contrat d'une valeur de 43 millions d'euros.
Il faudra douze pylônes comme celui-ci, répartis sur une distance de six kilomètres, pour raccorder le site d'ITER à la ligne de 400 kV de Cadarache, de l'autre côté de la colline.
Des plots parasismiques constitués d'une alternance de couches de métal et de caoutchouc sont installés au sommet de chacun des 493 piliers, hauts de 1,7 mètre. Les trois bâtiments du Complexe tokamak reposeront sur un radier commun, coulé au-dessus de ces plots parasismiques.
Le 28 juillet 2010, le Conseil ITER se réunit en session extraordinaire à Cadarache pour débattre de la "Baseline", la feuille de route qui fixe le calendrier du projet, encadre son financement et définit ses besoins pour les trois décennies qui viennent : construction des installations, mise en service, et début des opérations en deutérium-tritium. Le Conseil confirme également le nouveau directeur général de l'ITER Organization: le Professeur Osamu Motojima remplace Kaname Ikeda (à gauche sur la photo), qui dirige le projet depuis 2005.
La 9ème réunion du Conseil ITER a lieu les 17 et les 18 novembre 2011 à Cadarache.
Le Conseil ITER, réuni pour la cinquième fois de son histoire les 18 et 19 novembre à Cadarache.
Best spot for a photo
The viewpoint in front of the Visitors Centre is the best place for taking in all 42 hectares of the scientific platform. And of course for taking a souvenir photo ...
Too young perhaps for more detailed explanations on ITER, this little one is fascinated by the colours of a video that takes you on a virtual tour of the machine ... and reflects the pattern of her dress.
The different technical systems of the machine light up when you press the buttons of this popular ITER mockup.
Standing over the worksite on a clear Saturday in May. The ITER Open Doors event is held twice a year, in spring and autumn.