Moving toward winding trials in Japan
Significant industrial progress has been made in Japan relative to the toroidal field coils and the toroidal field coil structures, for which the Procurement Arrangements were signed with Japan in November 2008.
Last week, representatives of the Toroidal Field Coil Section from the ITER Organization and responsible officers from the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in Naka joined together to visit Toshiba in Yokohama and Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe for an unforgettable progress meeting on these procurements.
A winding machine is now in place at the Toshiba factory. It is in the course of being commissioned, which will allow the commencement of winding trials soon. These trials, foreseen by the Procurement Arrangement, are an essential step before continuing on to the fabrication of a one-third scale dummy double pancake. JAEA requires this reduced-scale dummy from its main contractor prior to the fabrication of a full-scale double pancake.
At Kawasaki Heavy Industry, another terrific surprise awaited the visitors: a short piece of toroidal field coil case was viewed (picture 1) and the visitors met with technicians who were working on welding trials for the pre-compression ring flange (picture 2) that is attached to the coil case. These preparatory works precede the tasks defined in Phase II of the coil structures Procurement Arrangement. Kawasaki Heavy Industry presented its preliminary manufacturing plan for the coil structures, which demonstrated its understanding of the challenging technical requirements.