Fresh from the offices of the Design & Construction Integration Division, this cutaway drawing peels back the walls to reveal the interior layout of the Tokamak Complex. Sixty metres at its tallest point, the Complex itself will represent 360,000 tonnes at its completion (concrete, steel, roof structure and all equipment), reposing on or within a Seismic Pit reinforcement structure representing another 80,000 tonnes (basemat and walls). This cutaway shows the Tokamak Complex as it is going up across from the ITER Headquarters building, with the Diagnostic Building on the right and the Tritium Building on the left. One of the striking features that can be see when you enlarge the image is the number of small squares on the walls, floors and ceilings. Numbering in the tens of thousands, these are the embedded plates, positioned throughout the structure where equipment will need to be attached. In the centre, the concrete bioshield forms a circular well where the ITER Tokamak will be assembled from bottom to top. Once the Tokamak Building reaches the height of the Assembly Hall, the temporary wall between them will be removed and a large open space will be created for the back-and-forth of the travelling cranes as they deliver components for installation in the machine. Match the numbers on the cutaway with the information below for more details on Tokamak Complex construction: 01 â€” The lifting system in the Tokamak/Assembly Hall is made up of a massive 1,500-tonne double overhead bridge crane and two 50-tonne auxiliary cranes. They were installed respectively in June and December 2016. 02 — Steel reinforcement is presently being installed at Level 3 of the bioshield. L3 will be the first level that will have more concrete than openings; L4 (the final level of the bioshield) will be an unbroken wall of concrete. 03 — At the bottom of the machine a steel-and-concrete "crown" will support the combined mass of the Tokamak and cryostat (23,000 tonnes). A mockup is under construction to demonstrate the full constructability of the structure (see related article). 04 — The huge mass of the Tokamak Complex rests on an arrangement of 493 columns, each topped by anti-seismic bearing. Separating the columns from the rest of the building is the B2 basemat, seen as a thick purple line under the cryostat crown. 05 — Gallery at upper port level. 06 — Gallery at equatorial port level. 07 — Gallery at lower port level. 08 — Work is evolving at L3 level in the Diagnostics Building (the final level). Teams are preparing to pour walls and columns. 09 — A 10-metre-high "vault" will accommodate the Tokamak's cooling water system (TCWS). 10 — TCWS vault annex. 11 — Work is evolving at L1 level in the Tritium Building. 12 — The interspace between the seismic pit and the Tokamak Complex building varies from 1.5 metres in the lower region to 2.5 metres in the upper region. In case of a seismic event, this interspace will accommodate the lateral displacement of the entire Complex, moving on its B2 basemat slab. 13 — Cables for the lightning protection system.

At the Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, researchers have been exploring the heliotron concept of magnetic fusion device for more than half a century. Closer to the stellarator than the tokamak, the heliotron has external magnetic coils that shape and confine the plasma. But experiments carried out there can be relevant to ITER physics and technology. Bernard Bigot, the Director-General of the ITER Organization, visited the Institute of Advanced Energy, Uji campus, on 30 September.   Guided by professors from the Institute, he was introduced to the most recent activities of the Heliotron J device whose complex coil system allow researchers to investigate a wide range of magnetic configuration properties. The Director-General was also interested in the dual MV-class accelerator DuET (Dual-Beam Facility for Energy Science and Technology), which simulates fusion-relevant material radiation damage.   Other areas of focus for Kyoto University were also presented to Director-General Bigot, including theoretical and computational fusion research activities on turbulent transport as well as MHD* phenomena. Possible areas of collaboration between the ITER Organization and Kyoto University were discussed, especially as relates to the development of diagnostic and structural materials, plasma turbulence simulation, and the training of young scientists.   Finally, the ITER Director-General was able to see the first ITER Tokamak model made by Kyoto University students Taishi Sugiyama and Kaishi Sakane from Lego bricks. In March 2017, the students had been able to repeat their technical exploit in the lobby of ITER Headquarters, where the model still stands.   * Magnetohydrodynamics, or the study of the magnetic properties of electrically conducting plasmas (and other fluids).   For more information on Heliotron J and DuET, please visit the Kyoto University website.  

Summer is over in Provence and the beautiful autumn light is back, revealing every detail of the landscape ... and of the ongoing works on the ITER construction site. Taken at the very end of the afternoon from the top of the highest worksite crane, this view takes in the "heart" of the ITER installation.   To the left, the Tokamak Complex with the spectacular structure of the bioshield at its centre, to the right four massive constructions: the twin Magnet Power Conversion buildings with three transformers already installed in their outdoor bays; the cryoplant, with its frame now covered in the trademark ITER stainless steel cladding; and the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility with its red trim ... the first building to rise on the ITER platform.   View the gallery below for a full update on construction progress.

Just like a thermos provides the insulation to keep your coffee warm—or your water cold—the ITER cryostat raises a barrier around the superconducting magnets that limits the possibility of heat exchange with the outside environment. Where coffee is concerned, the temperature gradient is small—even on a cold day, the beverage inside the thermos is only a few dozen degrees hotter (or colder) than the air outside. In ITER, the gradient is huge: with superconducting magnets cooled to a few degrees above absolute zero, the difference with the outside environment is in the range of 270 degrees Celsius.   Vacuum (an almost perfect insulator) is used in both a thermos and the ITER cryostat to provide insulation. In the first case, vacuum is sandwiched between the two "walls" of the container; in the second, the vessel itself—a ten-storey structure with a volume of 8,500 m³—is the vacuum chamber.   Part of the procurement responsibilities of India, the cryostat is being manufactured in 54 segments by Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro and shipped to the ITER Cryostat Workshop for assembly.   Over the past year and a half, we have seen the cryostat base take shape; now, work is underway simultaneously on the next section—the lower cylinder. Side by side, these components-in-progress give a true sense of the awesome size of the cryostat.   More on cryostat manufacturing here.

The ITER Organization was established ten years ago, on 24 October 2007. A week ahead of the official anniversary, part of the ITER staff, now numbering 800, gathered for a "family photo" on the edge of the construction site. Photo: Gérard Lesenechal

The heaviest of ITER's ring magnets, poloidal field coil #6 (PF6), is taking shape at the Chinese Institute of Plasma Physics ASIPP under the terms of an agreement signed with the procuring party, Europe. Three of the nine spiralled coils of conductor ("double pancakes") required for the final assembly have been wound and one is in the final stages of vacuum impregnation. Nearly 80 people are involved with fabrication. PF6, built from nine stacked double pancakes and finished off with clamps and a protective cover, will weigh 396 tonnes—11 tonnes more than the second-heaviest coil in the poloidal field series (#3). It is the only one made from nine double pancakes stacked; (the others require from six to eight).   Situated at the very bottom of the machine, PF6 is also the first poloidal field coil required in the ITER in-pit assembly sequence.   Fabrication activities are proceeding strongly at the ASIPP facility in Hefei, where niobium titanium superconductor produced in Europe is precisely wound into a double-layer "pancake" and insulated; "terminations" are created for the input of helium and for electrical current; and impregnation with epoxy resin is carried out.   An ASIPP technician is working to create a "termination"—an opening through which the coil coolant (liquid helium) can be injected into the coil. The termination joints have been completed on two double pancakes for helium and current. At the end of the multi-stage fabrication process, the hardened double pancakes—nine in all—will be stacked to form the final PF#6 assembly and impregnated once again as a whole.   This final impregnation stage will be practised on a qualification mockup before the actual component is handled, a process that allows the tooling and methodologies to be tested. By carrying out all the steps in the process on mockups first, tooling and techniques are confirmed before the work is carried out on actual components. Pictured: the vacuum impregnation of a "dummy" double pancake winding at ASIPP.   The European Domestic Agency is responsible for procuring five of ITER's six poloidal field magnets. Work on poloidal field coils #2-5 is underway now in a European facility on the ITER site.   See the report published last week on the European Domestic Agency's website.

According to the United States Energy Information Administration, the amount of energy supplied by all fuel sources across the world is tremendous: 155,481 teraWatt-hours as of 2014, the latest year on record. In order to meet this enormous energy demand in a given year, we need to burn 24 billions tonnes of coal, or 12 billion tonnes of oil, or a bit less of natural gas (10.4 billion tonnes).That's for fossil fuels. If we were to use only conventional nuclear energy to power the world, we would need to consume approximately 7,000 tonnes of nuclear fuel (enriched uranium or mixed oxyde). However with nuclear fusion, only 867 tonnes of hydrogen would suffice... Forbes magazine has a detailed article on this topic here.