Open Doors Day
An intense and unforgettable experience
20 May 2019
Saturday was Jacques's birthday. At age 90, the long-retired engineer from Aix-en-Provence had only one item on his wish list: to visit ITER for a third time and "see the progress of the Tokamak." Jacques was lucky: his birthday this year coincided with the 14th edition of the ITER Open Doors Day—a twice-a-year opportunity for the public to take the full measure of the ongoing works on the ITER construction site in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, southern France.
Dwarfed by the twin Titans in the Assembly Hall, or awed by the view of the Tokamak Pit, the 800 participants to the 14th edition of the ITER Open Doors Day were treated to an intense and unforgettable experience.
The Open Doors Day has come a long way since the event's inception in October 2011. The first edition had little to show: a "near-finished" Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility, a "forest of pylons" in the electrical switchyard, and a 17-metre-deep excavation where installation work had just begun on the anti-seismic system of the Tokamak Complex.
Eight-and-a-half years later, the ITER installation is a massive presence. More than 70 percent of civil work to First Plasma has been completed, spectacular assembly tools are in place, and giant components are taking shape on site.
For the 800 visitors who passed through the worksite gates on Saturday, the experience was intense and unforgettable. As they walked from the Cryostat Workshop, where the base section of the cryostat is in the last stages of fabrication ... past the lower cylinder (now cocooned on site) ... through the lofty Assembly Hall ... and finally into the depths of the Tokamak Complex, they were able to take the full measure of ITER in both its scientific and industrial dimensions.
The success of an Open Doors Day rests on faultless organization¹, the dedication of dozens of volunteers, and a collective enthusiasm for explaining and sharing what ITER is about. All these pre-requisites and more were fulfilled by the participants in the 14th edition on 18 May.
Scientists traded the complex equations of plasma physics they are familiar with for simple and concrete explanations and examples accessible to the lay public; engineers discarded their technical jargon to convey the challenges of ITER construction.
For everyone involved the reward was in the eyes of the children exploring a 3D rendition of the ITER machine, or in the eyes of their parents gasping at the sheer size of the sub-assembly tools and the unique strangeness of the Tokamak Pit.
¹Open Doors Day is organized by the ITER Organization in close collaboration with the European Domestic Agency, Fusion for Energy, and its contractors Engage, Apave, Energhia, etc. Close to 50 volunteers participated in the 14th edition. Representatives of "Les petits débrouillards," a national network that promotes scientific and technical education, were also present to provide hands-on experiments on magnetism and electricity.
The making of a giant thermos
First stop: the Cryostat Workshop, where the base section of the giant thermos that will encase the machine is in the last stages of fabrication. Saroj Kumar Jha, ITER Project Associate from India, provides explanations to the first group of visitors.
For the architects who designed the exterior appearance of the ITER buildings, the challenge was to lend unity to apparent architectural disorder and to integrate the project harmoniously into the surrounding landscape. The choice of an alternating cladding of mirror-like stainless steel and grey-lacquered metal achieves just that. The ITER installation now has an architectural harmony that wasn't lost on the visitors.
On their way out of the Cryostat Workshop, visitors walked past the rencently finalized cryostat lower cylinder, now cocooned for protection. As ITER's Katja Rauhansalo and Nadine Fabre explained, the height of the massive component represents only one-third of the finalized cryostat.
Into the concrete maze
The walking tour took visitors from the Cryostat Workshop through the lofty Assembly Hall and finally into the depths of the Tokamak Complex. Here, Vicenzo Sarica, from architect/engineer ENGAGE, leads a small group through a gallery at ground level.
The 800 participants of the 14th ITER Open Doors Day were able to access one of the viewpoints into the Tokamak Pit—a place of unique strangeness that is the "Holy of Holies" of the ITER installation. Because painting is underway, all openings have been sealed ... except for the two opened for visitors on Saturday.
Evocative of an arena or an amphitheatre, the Tokamak Pit will accommodate the 30-metre-high, 30-metre-in-diameter cryostat—a giant thermos that insulates the ultra-cold superconducting magnets of the ITER machine from the outside environment.
For the generations to come
What is experimental today could be the daily reality of tomorrow. For these two youngsters sitting on a rock in front of the spectacular outline of the ITER Tokamak Complex and Assembly Hall, fusion-generated electricity will be part of everyday life.
The magic of magnets
There is magic in magnetism, and a small jar filled with water and iron filings is enough to experience it. On the stand of "Les petits débrouillards," a French association that promotes scientific and technical education, a whole set of hands-on experiments provided insights into one the central principles of ITER and magnetic fusion.
Jacques's birthday this year coincided with the 14th edition of the ITER Open Doors Day. At age 90, the long-retired engineer from Aix-en-Provence had only one item on his wish list: to visit ITER and "see the progress of the Tokamak." Here Jacques listens to ITER's Jean-Philippe Croset explaining the principle of the machine's divertor. Julie Marcillat (left), who organized the event, looks on.
Let Greg explain
A plasma physicist, Greg de Temmerman traded the complex equations he is familiar with for simple and concrete explanations and examples accessible to the lay public. His trick is to "make things visual, entertaining and interactive; to explain complex realities in simple terms using analogies." And it works!
Benoit Manfreo is ITER's virtual reality man. He has adapted the 3D tools ITER designers use on a daily basis to the general public. During Open Doors Day, visitors were given an opportunity to navigate in real time inside a 3D model of the ITER Tokamak, witness key steps in the assembly process, and even "dive" into a burning plasma. The reward was in the eyes of the children.