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European winding facility

First coil leaves production line

19 Apr 2021

As long as a semi-trailer, nearly as heavy as a fully loaded Boeing 747, the first ITER ring magnet to be manufactured by Europe on site—poloidal field coil #5 (PF5)—has exited the building to await its turn for assembly in the Tokamak pit. 

PF5_into_storage_Group_1a_small.jpg
The satisfaction of a path well travelled. A dozen companies and more than 150 people participated in the production of poloidal field coil #5 (PF5), learning important lessons for the next coils in line.
It was grey and cold, but for the 20 people assembled it was a day that would not be easy to forget. The sight of the ring-shaped superconducting magnet emerging from the production facility where it had been more than three and a half years in the making was both historic and moving.

For Alessandro Bonito-Oliva, the Magnets Programme Manager for the European Domestic Agency Fusion for Energy, this first coil produced entirely on site by European contractors served as an important learning curve for the three other coils to come (PF2, PF4 and PF3). "We learned a lot, improved and developed techniques to overcome [...] technical difficulties along the way. Fusion for Energy supervised the entire production from the start, and with the valuable contribution of our contractors we delivered [the first poloidal field coil] made in Europe." 

From the start of coil winding activities in September 2017, to resin impregnation, final assembly, and cold testing, the realization of PF5 was a meticulous, stage-by-stage process that required the expertise of a dozen companies and more than 150 people.

A few days before the scheduled operation, three self-propelled modular transporters, piloted in sync, had entered the north end of the winding facility. Powered by 1000 HP hydraulic power packs and with the maneuverability of 36 axels and 144 wheels, the transporters passed under the coil frame and lifted the 340-tonne component (plus frame) off the ground. On Friday 16 April, the coil, protected under heavy-duty tarpaulin, was brought out of the coil building and delivered around the corner to a temporary storage tent.

Now officially handed over to the ITER Organization, ring coil PF5 will wait its turn in the machine assembly sequence.

See a full report on the Fusion for Energy website.

Poised on three self-propelled modular transporters, the coil is entering a "storage tent."
First row, from left to right: Eugenio Cavanna, ASG Technical Responsible Officer; Alessandro Bonito-Oliva, F4E Programme Manager for Magnets; Monica Martinez-Lopez, F4E Technical Responsible Officer; Pierre Gavouyere-Lasserre, F4E Deputy Project Manager. Second row, from left to right: Marco Berrino, ASG Production Manager; Mauro Roggerone, ASG Senior Technical Operator; Vitor Martins, F4E Manufacturing Engineer.
Officially handed over to the ITER Organization and safely placed in storage, PF5 will wait its turn in the machine assembly sequence.
F4E Deputy Project Manager Pierre Gavouyere-Lasserre, broacasting live to his colleagues in Barcelona.
F4E Programme Manager for Magnets Alessandro Bonito-Oliva and ITER Magnet Section Leader Min Liao.
The 340-tonne, 17-metre-in-diameter coil slowly exits the European winding facility.
Three and a half years after fabrication begin, PF5 is now finalized. PF5 is the first of four poloidal field coils to be produced by European contractors at the ITER site (to be followed by PF2, PF4 and PF3). PF1 is procured by Russia. PF6 (procured by Europe) was manufactured at ASIPP in China under the terms of an agreement signed with Fusion for Energy.
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