Breaking news
First component installed next week
12 Nov 2018
In the third week of November, the ITER Organization will be installing the first component of the machine in the basement of the Tokamak Building.
Feeders are the lifeline of the ITER magnet system, relaying electrical power, cryogens, and instrumentation from outside of the cryostat into the powerful coils. This feeder segment will be the first machine component installed in the Tokamak pit.
The 10-metre, 6-tonne metal component is one segment of the magnet feeder that will relay electrical power, cryogenic fluids and instrumentation cables from outside of the machine in to poloidal field coil #4. The specific section to be installed, called a "feedthrough," will cross through the bioshield and cryostat at the lowest (B2) level of the building.
Delivered by the Chinese Domestic Agency to ITER last year, the component has undergone testing at the MIFI workshop (Magnet Infrastructure Facilities for ITER), which is operated jointly by a team from ITER and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA).
Most recently, the lifting operation was tested at MIFI using a specially designed tool delivered by the Korean Domestic Agency (picture). Next week the component will be transferred by truck to a staging area, and then lifted up into the circular assembly area and lowered down 30 metres to the floor.
Stay tuned for a report in the 26 November issue of the ITER Newsline on the first act of the machine installation phase.