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Worksite

Major progress you don't see from the air

16 Nov 2020
There was a time when aerial pictures of the ITER worksite taken at six-month intervals showed spectacular change. Buildings and structures sprouted from previously vacant lots, new levels were added to existing constructions, and progress was strikingly visible.
Drone_nov_2020_Platform_0a_small.jpg
Looking over the main ITER site and an auxiliary storage platform (left) from a northeastern angle. One of the four tall cranes that had stood over the Tokamak Building has now been dismantled. Photo: ITER Organization/EJF Riche
Today, most of the action takes place inside the buildings, where equipment is being installed, components unpacked and tools prepared for upcoming assembly tasks. Progress remains steady, but it is now rarely visible from the air.

As a consequence, playing "spot the differences" between an aerial photograph from a few days ago with one taken in late May is becoming a difficult game. Still, the differences are there. Can you spot them?

Drone_nov_2020_Platform_night_small.jpg
As night falls the ITER site glows red and orange. In front of the Tokamak Complex, construction materials that had been stored have been cleared to make room for three new buildings to house the power supplies for the heating neutral beam system. Farther left, space has also been made for early work on the Control Building. Photo: ITER Organization/EJF Riche

A banner on the facade of the Tokamak Building celebrates a major milestone achieved in March 2020: crane access between Assembly Hall and Tokamak Building, allowing the start of machine assembly. Since then two major components have been inserted into the Tokamak pit (the cryostat base and lower cylinder) and preparations are underway in the Assembly Hall for the next in line (18 toroidal field coil supports and the cylindrical lower cryostat thermal shield). Photo: ITER Organization/EJF Riche
Seventeen plant systems have to be commissioned before First Plasma, first individually and then in an integrated fashion. From electrical distribution, to control/command, cooling water, vacuum and cooling, these systems are in various stages of installation all over the platform. Five separate "balance of plant" contracts have been awarded for areas outside of the Tokamak Complex. Photo: ITER Organization/EJF Riche
From this angle, the drone shows the implantation of ITER in the Durance River valley. In the foreground, storage facilities for small- to medium-size components; in the background, if you look closely, you'll see only one cocooned cryostat component—the other was installed in the machine pit in August. Photo: ITER Organization/EJF Riche
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