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Machine assembly

Another faultless sequence

15 Jun 2021
Finalized by Japan in January 2020, delivered to ITER two months later, toroidal field coil #12 (TF12) has moved yet another step closer to its final installation inside the assembly pit as part of the first "pre-assembly" of the ITER machine. In a series of operations that started on Wednesday 9 June and concluded six days later, the 320-tonne component, securely fastened to the upending tool, was successively tilted 90° in mid-air, re-positioned vertically on the floor, extracted from its massive steel cradle, and eventually attached to the left wing of one the twin sector sub-assembly tools (SSAT-1).
TF12-SSAT_FINAL_1.jpg
In a series of operations that started on Wednesday 9 June and concluded six days later, TF12 was successfully attached to the left wing of one the twin sector sub-assembly tools (SSAT-1). The 320-tonne coil will be moved to SSAT-2 in about a month for the actual pre-assembly operations.
The component will remain in this position for about a month, before it is moved to the other sector sub-assembly tool (SSAT-2) for the actual pre-assembly operations. There are several reasons for this temporary stopover: available space in the Assembly Hall is scarce, the upending tool will soon be needed for TF13 (TF12's "partner" in the first pre-assembly), and the complexity of installing a one-of-a-kind component in a one-of-a-kind tool called for rehearsal in actual conditions. "In a way, it was a kind of training," said Head of the ITER Sector Modules Delivery & Assembly Division Chang Ho Choi on Tuesday afternoon as the operation came to a close.

Although it was "a bit longer than anticipated," the operation was "quite successful, with no show-stopper, no physical mismatching, and no major adjustments required. It all went very smoothly," confirms Chang Ho.

What took time and required almost a full day of delicate tweaking was the "balancing" of the load, once it was detached from the upending tool. Although the whole sequence had been practiced with a dummy load whose weight and general shape was representative of a D-shaped 320-tonne toroidal coil, and although models and calculations had determined the coil's theoretical gravity centre, balancing the load was to prove a long and painstaking process.

By Tuesday 15 June, six days after operations started, TF12 travelled safely into the left wing of tool #1. In two weeks, TF13 (also from Japan) will be placed in the upending tool to later follow the same sequence of operations, this time directly into SSAT-2.

Lessons learned in the present operation will prove priceless. In the course of machine assembly, this very sequence will need to be performed 18 times.

The operation went smoothly, with no show-stopper, no physical mismatching, and no major adjustments required. It was an important rehearsal for the identical sequences to follow. In only two weeks, TF13 (also from Japan) will follow the same path.
Toroidal field coil #12 (supplied by Japan) crosses the Hall to be installed on the left wing of the first sector sub-assembly tool (SSAT-1). The component will remain in this temporary location for about a month, before it is moved to the other sector sub-assembly tool (SSAT-2) for the actual pre-assembly operations.
Responsible for the operation today is the DYNAMIC SNC consortium (Ansaldo Nucleare; Endel Engie; Orys Group ORTEC; SIMIC; Ansaldo Energia; and Leading Metal Mechanic Solutions SL). As TAC-2 contractor (for Tokamak Assembly Contract 2) for the ITER Organization, DYNAMIC is in charge of the assembly of the main vessel and ports, sector sub-assembly with toroidal field coils and vacuum vessel thermal shielding, and welding.
Six days after upending toroidal field coil #12 to vertical, the assembly teams are ready for the second part of the operation: transferring the vertical coil over to one of the sector sub-assembly tools on the opposite side of the Hall.
By coordinating the cables of the four lift points, the overhead crane operators first lift the load and then start to tilt it on Wednesday 9 June. The toroidal field coil plus the upending frame weigh approximately 520 tonnes.
Early June, the teams prepare to perform the first "upending" of a D-shaped toroidal field coil (TF12). The upending tool (light grey) is designed to handle both vacuum vessel sectors and vertical coils, locking the components in securely while they are lifted to vertical.
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