Industrial expertise for ITER

Since last Monday, a little space has been made in Building 519 for a special group of newcomers—the eight members of the AREVA TA Consortium core team that have come from different horizons to support ITER engineering.

The team will be working within the scope of a Systems Engineering Support (SES) Contract that was signed with ITER Organization last month—the biggest of its kind for the ITER Project Office. "ITER is a scientific experiment," explains Stefano Chiocchio, Head of the Technical Integration Division. "With this SES contract, we are bringing important industrial expertise into the project."

Stefano oversaw the entire tender process, narrowing a group of twenty contenders down to four, before making the final selection. The contract was signed for one year, renewable three times.

The consortium includes AREVA TA, specialized in nuclear engineering and scientific projects; CNIM Toulon, experienced in the construction of advanced systems; and Kraftanlagan Heidelberg, with particular expertise in the fields of cryogenics and magnets. The three groups have worked together before on large-scale scientific projects, including the Laser Megajoule project currently under construction near Bordeaux.

As engineering at ITER moves from defining global system requirements to providing detailed design documents and even more detailed technical specifications, outside verification and control is essential to making sure quality requirements are met at every level. Have top-level design documents properly been taken into account at the second level? Has nothing been left out? Do the many interfaces work well? Are the designs well coordinated and integrated? Verifying these questions will be the responsibility of the AREVA TA Consortium, headed by Project Manager Ingrid Durand.

Ingrid will report to Stefano Chiocchio. Her eight-member team will increase to twenty members by the end of the year, and she is currently looking for additional office space in the area. The entire team is enthusiastic about the ITER Project and its international environment. "For engineers, it's the most exciting project around!" says Ingrid. She and her team are looking forward to a challenging project and ... to practising their English. Stop by and see them in Room 21; they'd be glad to make your acquaintance.