Cargo, barge, monster trailer ... and an eyedropper
24 Oct 2016
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R.A.
Shipping three 120-tonne cryostat segments from India to the ITER site, some 9,000 kilometres distant, is a huge global operation involving a large cargo ship, a specially designed barge, tugs, three monster trailers, dozens of accompanying vehicles and—once the convoy reaches the ITER Itinerary—more than one hundred specialists.
Are the small water puddles that have accumulated on the tarpaulin's surface saline or not? A few drops of diluted silver nitrate will instantly tell. From right to left: Alain Spatafora, the transport expert commissioned by the ITER Organization and DAHER, and cryostat engineers Guillaume Vitupier (ITER Organization) and Mitul Patel (ITER India).
Spectacular and challenging, the delivery of the ITER components is never routine. It is a job reserved for highly skilled professionals, including logisticians, mechanics, drivers, crane operators, and experts in safety and handling.
But once again, the door-to-door transport of an ITER component was accomplished successfully.
The last three segments for the cryostat base (tier 2), which had been loaded onto a cargo ship at Hazira, India, on 5 September, were safely delivered to ITER at 2:30 a.m. on 20 October and unloaded and stored the following afternoon.
In order to call the operation complete however, one last check was necessary. It didn't require large machinery or sophisticated tooling ... just a standard eyedropper filled with a solution of diluted silver nitrate (0.3%).