Small delivery for a very massive tool
26 Jun 2017
Read more about the tool here.
The first components of the sector sub-assembly tool have reached ITER; four more batches are planned in the coming months. The 90 crates of material will be stored in the Cleaning Facility (the smaller building in the photo) until tool assembly begins.
At ITER, two massive sector sub-assembly tools will suspend and equip the vacuum vessel sectors in the Assembly Hall before they are transported by overhead crane to the Tokamak Pit for installation.
Following fabrication, assembly and testing in Korea, the first of the giant tools (22 m tall, 800 tonnes) is on its way to ITER in batches. The first crates reached the site on 22 June.
A dedicated storage area has been prepared in the antechamber to the Assembly Hall, the Cleaning Facility, for the successive batches of components. The first installation activities will begin in September, with the installation of the first rail components on the concrete basemat. The structure of the tool will require approximately three months to build.
The weight of the suspended vacuum vessel sectors is anchored by three massive columns, while lateral "wings" will slowly rotate the other components of the sector sub-assembly (two toroidal field coils and thermal shielding) in for alignment and installation.
As part of site acceptance tests, the tool will be tested with a 310-tonne load—the weight of one of the two toroidal field coils that will be rotated and attached as each vacuum vessel sector is suspended vertically.
The on-time arrival of the first tool components validates one of ITER Project's 2017 milestones.
Read more about the tool here.