Design Office to be expanded

The Design Office (DO), part of the Central Engineering and Plant Support Department, is the service provider to the entire ITER project responsible for the required CAD resources, software, processes and methodologies in mechanical and plant design and configuration control. Currently, the Design Office does not have enough CAD designers and engineering designers to complete the huge workload necessary to complete all the outstanding Procurement Arrangements (PA).

In order to implement the conclusions of the 2006-2007 Design Review as well as to prepare the upcoming 25 PAs in 2008, significant design and engineering efforts will be undertaken in the Domestics Agencies from mid-2008 onwards. The ITER Organization has asked the DAs to undertake CAD and engineering work (190 PPY in total, CAD 80 PPY, ENG 110 PPY) over the next 12 months. The tasks will be credited by the ITER Organization. Favourable responses have already been given by several DAs. The Responsible Officers will have discussions with the Domestic Agencies and will prepare the necessary Design Work Orders to initiate the joint design work.

In this context, the Design Office is to be expanded to control and coordinate this effort in close collaboration with the Agencies and the Responsible Officers. The CAD and Design Engineering Activities will be coordinated by the ITER Organization Design Officeto enable efficiency, flexibility, integration and reactivity to changes. Priority will be given to activities associated with the Procurement Arrangements to be delivered this year.