Superconductivity: it gets the current flowing
To create the optimal conditions for fusion in a tokamak, the hot gas (plasma) must be confined in the centre of the vessel. This is the job of powerful magnetic fields, which are created by large electromagnets. At JET, the biggest operating tokamak in the world, the energy con...
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Mirror, mirror on the platform
How much latitude does an architect have when considering how best to integrate the ITER buildings into the surrounding landscape? Not a lot, says architect Simon Pallubicki—a partner at ENIA, the firm chosen in 2009 to work on the exterior architecture of the ITER installation....
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Last pour, first delivery
Two milestones in ITER construction were achieved as summer 2014 drew to a close—the last pour of the Tokamak Complex basemat on 27 August and the delivery of the first completed components on 4 September. It was the last of fifteen 'segments' poured to complete the 9,300 m² conc...
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Twin giants to pre-assemble the vacuum vessel
As the doors of the Assembly Building open to admit the first vacuum vessel sectors shipped from manufacturing sites in Europe or Korea, two imposing custom-built tools will stand ready to receive them. Six storyes high, with wings spreading 20 metres, the Sector Sub-Assembly to...
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1,300 visitors 'at home' at ITER
When preparation work began on the platform in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance more than seven years ago, ITER was a mystery for many people in neighbouring towns and villages Since that date, some 70,000 people, most of them local residents, have been welcomed to the construction site....
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