What’s New

22 September 2014

ITER news digest for the period of 15 September 2014 to 22 September 2014.

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Featured (5)

Of interest (7)

Event (1)

Press (3)

Lamb on the spit to celebrate slab completion

Disruption mitigation team reviews progress

Design phase concludes for ITER rectangular bellows

3D cost containment

Europe signs contracts for blanket first wall prototypes

Cryostat Workshop ready for equipment

On 8-9 September the final acceptance meeting was held for the Cryostat Workshop. This 5,500-square-metre building will be the theatre for the assembly of the four main cryostat sections from 54 smaller segments manufactured in India.

As the contractor chosen by the Indian Domestic Agency for the construction and assembly of the ITER cryostat, Larsen & Toubro Limited is also in charge of the on-site cryostat worksite. The company awarded the construction contract to the French company SPIE Batignolles TPCI, who began work just over a year ago, in June 2013.

"Larsen & Toubro (L&T) takes pride in having completed the temporary workshop before the contractual delivery date," a company statement read. "This was possible due to the positive and collaborative efforts by all of the teams involved: SPIE Batignolles TPCI, Danieli (crane contractor), Currie & Brown (engineering), Apave (health and safety protection), ITER India and the ITER Organization. Larsen & Toubro is thankful to all of these teams for their role in achieving this feat."

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=364

PPPL provides insight to how magnetic reconnection energizes plasma particles

The process of magnetic field line reconnection, in which the magnetic field lines in a plasma snap apart and violently reconnect, transforms magnetic field energy into particle energy. Little was known about this phenomenon that is known most prominently in the form of solar flares on the surface of the sun. The subsequent geomagnetic storms on earth have demonstrated how much energy can be released by magnetic reconnection.

In the research conducted on the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) at PPPL, scientists measured experimentally the amount of magnetic energy that turns into particle energy. They showed that reconnection converts about 50 percent of the magnetic energy in the plasma, with one-third of the conversion heating the electrons and two-thirds accelerating the ions.

The findings also suggested the process by which the energy conversion occurs. According to the researchers, reconnection first propels and energizes the electrons, which creates an electrically charged field that becomes the primary energy source for the ions.

Read more on the FuseNet and News at Princeton websites.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=363

Cosmic hybrid

A weird type of 'hybrid' star has been discovered nearly 40 years since it was first theorized — but until now has been curiously difficult to find.

In 1975, renowned astrophysicists Kip Thorne, of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif., and Anna Żytkow, of the University of Cambridge, UK, assembled a theory on how a large dying star could swallow its neutron star binary partner, thus becoming a very rare type of stellar hybrid, nicknamed a Thorne-Żytkow object (or TŻO). The neutron star — a dense husk of degenerate matter that was once a massive star long since gone supernova — would spiral into the red supergiant's core, interrupting normal fusion processes.

Read more here. Access the scientific article here

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=362

Wendelstein 7-X on track for first plasma in 2015

After a decade of construction, the Wendelstein 7-X experiment (W7-X) is now its commissioning phase. Work is underway to install plasma-facing components and some of the in-components of the diagnostics.

A first, three-month operation period is planned in 2015.

Find out all the detail of the first plasmas planned in the latest issue of the Wendelstein 7-X newsletter here.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=361

Latest ITER Games draw close to 250 competitors

Last Saturday 13 September, the fourth edition of the ITER Games attracted a crowd of close to 250 competitors and their supporters for an all-day sports event including football and tennis competitions, a cross-country run, a kayak race and a petanque tournament. For the participants—people working for the ITER Project, club members from the local sports associations, and their families—this was another opportunity to meet, compete and share ... all ways to strengthen ties between ITER and its environment. (Photo AIF-AP)

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=359

FuseNet PhD Event in November

This year's FuseNet PhD Event will take place on 18—20 November in Lisbon, Portugal.

Organized by the University of Lisbon under the umbrella of the FuseNet Association and with the financial support of EUROfusion, the PhD Event brings together PhD students working in the field of fusion science and engineering. The aim of the event is to enable students to disseminate their research, develop a network of contacts and learn from each other's experiences.

The Event is open to all PhD students involved with research in nuclear fusion research and who are registered at a European university or a FuseNet member university.

The deadline for applications is 15 October 2014 (financial support is available). More information on the event and the application procedure can be found on the FuseNet website.

Permalink : https://www.iter.org/of-interest?id=358

ITER's Arnaud Devred receives IEEE award

On 11 August, during the opening session of this year's Applied Superconductivity Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina (US), ITER's Arnaud Devred received the IEEE award "for continuing and significant contributions in the field of applied superconductivity."

The prestigious prize delivered by the IEEE Council on Applied Superconductivity was awarded for his "many and significant contributions to the field of large scale applications."

"I am indebted to many people, who have inspired me and made me the person I am today," said the head of the ITER Superconductor Systems & Auxiliaries Section in his acceptance speech. "One of my greatest privileges—and rewards—is that throughout my carrier I have been able to meet and work with great people. First in Europe, then in the US and Japan, and now from all around the world. Therefore, I would like to share this award with my numerous collaborators in China, Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States, and, in these times of heightened political tensions, it is my wish that we can keep working together in the same open and peaceful manner—our little contribution to making the world a better place to be."