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Site preparation progressing at great pace

8 Sep 2008 - Jerry Sovka, Head of the Civil Construction & Site Support Office of the ITER Organization
Jerry Sovka

Works are progressing on the ITER site at full speed with the close collaboration of ITER's Civil Construction and Site Support Office, Agence ITER France and the European Domestic Agency. These three parties who are collectively responsible for the specification, design and delivery of the basic site infrastructure, meet on a monthly basis to ensure that the works continue to progress in accordance with the required schedules.

Currently the major and most impressive activity is the site leveling which will provide the 80 hectare level platform on which most of the ITER facility will be built. Over 700,000 cubic metres of rock has been removed by blasting and it is expected that the remaining 1,000,000 cubic metres to be removed by blasting will be complete in early 2009. Integrated with the platform leveling work is a new campaign of site investigation that will ensure that the best possible knowledge of the rock conditions is obtained prior to the commencement of building construction. In addition, fantastic progress has been made on completing the many kilometres of access roads, drainage pipes, retention basins and other infrastructure required to support the construction of the ITER facility.

The JWS 2 temporary building which will house 300 ITER staff is almost complete. The completion of this building, which will be fully commissioned by the end of October 2008, is a milestone in ITER's history as it will be the first building to be occupied on the ITER site and will serve as the ITER Headquarters until the completion of the permanent office building in 2011.

The design of the permanent Headquarters of the ITER Organization is also progressing at great pace. The Architectural Drawings are complete and the Calls for tenders for the construction of the building will be launched in early 2009 with construction expected to commence in the second half of the year.

Acknowledgement is due to the civil engineering teams of ITER, Agence ITER France and the European Domestic Agency as well as the numerous companies who have been involved in the site preparation activities. Their hard work and dedication means that the construction of ITER is now well underway and we all look forward to the next milestone of seeing the Tokamak Excavation works commencing in 2009.

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