Korea welcomes a shipment from India

2 Nov 2015 - Ji-Min Song, ITER Korea
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On 20 October, a shipment of 48 in-wall shielding support rib bracket assemblies reached Korea. This material (part of the Indian contribution to the ITER vacuum vessel) will be used by Hyundai Heavy Industries to assemble vacuum vessel Sector 6.
​In the space between the double walls of the ITER vacuum vessel, poloidal and toroidal stiffening ribs will provide structural support for the vacuum vessel and also form the flow passages for the cooling water. Approximately 55 percent of the space will also be filled with in-wall shielding—modular blocks weighing up to 500 kg each that protect components situated outside of the vacuum vessel from neutron radiation.
 
In Korea, where two of the nine ITER vacuum vessel sectors will be manufactured, the in-wall shielding blocks will be pre-assembled into the sector through the support rib. These in-wall shielding blocks, plus all related components such as support ribs, brackets and fasteners, fall under the procurement responsibility of India.
 
On 20 October, the first container of material was received from India at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan, Korea. Site acceptance tests were successfully completed the same day for all 48 in-wall shielding support rib bracket assemblies for one of the poloidal segments of vacuum vessel Sector 6 in the presence of representatives from the ITER Organization, the Korean Domestic Agency and Hyundai.
 
The container had left Chennai harbor in India on 30 September. This is the first delivery related to the ITER vacuum vessel received by Korea from other ITER Domestic Agencies