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Open Doors Day

This time for ITER families and friends

26 Jun 2023
Over the past twelve years, thousands of people have filed through the ITER gates on the occasion of the biannual Open Doors Days. Initiated in 2011, when construction works had just begun on the ITER platform, the operation offers visitors a unique opportunity to take in the size and scope of the project and discuss progress and challenges with the people who know it best: the experts from the ITER Organization, the European agency Fusion for Energy, and their various contractors.
JPO_06-23_Jens_Portcell_1.jpg
Looking into the Holy of Holies: Jens Reich, Head of the ITER Ex-Vessel Delivery & Assembly Division, provides explanations on the "sector module" that was installed one year ago in the Tokamak assembly pit.
On Open Doors Day, several dozen volunteers are on deck—the ITER Director-General sometimes among them—to guide visitors, answer questions, and share their passion for the unique scientific, industrial and human venture that they are part of.

On Saturday 24 June, the day was tailored for the families and friends of project collaborators—an occasion for close to 650 spouses and children, parents and friends to see for themselves the reality that they hear so much about.

And the reality was, as always, impressive: oversized crane hooks, dizzying perspectives, and huge components—as "high as a five-storey building" and as "heavy as a fully-loaded jumbo jet"—clasped in the wings of giant handling tools.

At the Visitors Building experts were on hand to provide explanations, while "plasmagicians" gave insights into the laws of physics at work in ITER through basic and often amusing science experiments.

But better than words, the images in the gallery below will give a sense of what an ITER Open Doors Day is all about. (The next one will be organized for the public on Saturday 25 November 2023.)

 

 

Some of our smaller visitors ...
Buses are divided into smaller groups on arrival, so that everyone can be in easy earshot of their guide.
A local science association also takes part in the day, with informative, hands-on science demonstrations tailored to children.
This infographic about how fusion works in the plasma chamber is a good starting point for visitors to ask questions about ITER science.
A "plasmagician" spins his magic. With the right tools, magnetic fields and vacuum can be "seen" and "felt."
There's a lot of looking up to do in the 60-metre-tall ITER Assembly Hall.
Explaining how the overhead cranes ... and their massive hooks ... are coordinated during a component lift operation.
Hearing about project progress and challenges with the people who know it best ... the experts.
Usually a busy place on a Saturday morning, the Assembly Hall is quiet to make room for approximately 650 visitors throughout the day.
One stop in the Assembly Hall is in front of the massive handling tools for vacuum vessel pre-assembly. Visitors learn that the vacuum vessel sector module currently in the Tokamak pit is planned for removal to tooling this week. (See more at: https://www.iter.org/newsline/-/3882)
First stop on the tour: a video monitor with footage of component lift operations. Getting an idea of what a heavy lift looks like is interesting before moving on to see the tools and the spaces of ITER assembly.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words ...
Director-General Pietro Barabaschi also joins in, guiding a bus tour and fielding questions (photo) in the ITER Visitors Centre.
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