The technically challenging fabrication of the ITER vacuum vessel is progressing in Korea, where Hyundai Heavy Industries has completed the first poloidal segment for sector #6. From manufacturing design and material procurement to cutting, forming, machining, welding, non-destructive examination, and final dimensional measurements—the industrial effort to forge the building blocks for ITER's double-walled steel plasma chamber is one of the most complex of the ITER Project. On 11 December 2017, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) completed dimensional checks on the inboard (poloidal) segment of vacuum vessel sector #6—the first-completed segment of the vacuum vessel construction program. All inspection and test results demonstrated that safety requirements are fully satisfied and that the tolerances of the completed segment, measured at ± 4.0 millimetres, are well within the ITER requirement of ± 10.0 millimetres. With this successful realization the ITER Project celebrates both an industrial and a programmatic milestone, as the first production unit is the result of a lengthy program to establish, qualify and implement manufacturing and test procedures for a one-of-a-kind component, and also respects the calendar of ITER Council milestones that has been established to track project progress. 'It was very challenging to reach this level of technical maturity and achievement,' says Wooho Chung, the technical responsible officer for the vacuum vessel at ITER Korea. 'Because the vacuum vessel will act as the first safety confinement barrier, all of our procedures and activities had to be qualified and approved by the Agreed Notified Body (a company authorized by the French Nuclear Regulator to assess conformity of components in the pressure equipment category, ESPN).' Since signing a Procurement Arrangement with the ITER Organization in November 2008, teams in Korea have developed—and received authorization for—detailed manufacturing procedures for forming, welding, and non-destructive examination (especially ultra-sonic examination and remote visual examination). 'After successfully completing the manufacture of the first poloidal segment, we will now be able to move more smoothly on the basis of confirmed manufacturing processes and procedures,' states Chung. 'We know that we have still remaining challenges—such as the completion of the outboard segments for sector #6 as well as factory acceptance tests—but we are confident that we can achieve these steps this year.' The ITER doughnut-shaped vacuum vessel will be welded in the Tokamak Pit at ITER from nine steel sectors. Each 40° vacuum vessel sector is a double walled steel component weighing 500 tonnes and measuring 12 metre in height and 7 metres in width, with multiple port openings and in-wall shielding contained within its walls in the form of modular blocks. Key to the good progress on the challenging procurement of the vacuum vessel, according to Chung, is very constructive and cooperative collaboration between the members of the Vacuum Vessel Project Team and industries. Fabrication responsibility is shared by four ITER Domestic Agencies—Europe (five main vessel sectors); Korea (four main vessel sectors plus equatorial and lower ports); Russia (upper ports); and India (in-wall shielding)—plus the ITER Organization and a large number of industrial contractors. The Vacuum Vessel Project Team was created to make one team of these participants for promoting synergies, the sharing of experience, and the rapid resolution of fabrication issues. Collaboration meetings among participants of the Vacuum Vessel Project Team are organized regularly; (please see the report of the latest meeting on the European Domestic Agency website). All vacuum vessel components are currently being manufactured with good quality assurance and quality control at various industrial locations worldwide. With the results achieved for the first segment, Hyundai Heavy Industries has identified how tolerance control can be improved for the next segments through experience. The results are also undergoing detailed, integrated analysis at the ITER Organization Design & Construction Integration Division, taking into account all interfacing systems. The Korean Domestic Agency plans to complete the first sector (#6) and start the mass production of all remaining sectors/ports in 2018.

If ITER were an ordinary project, like the building of a bridge, the construction of a highway or even the launching of a satellite into space, it would be relatively easy to know its state of advancement. So much work done, so much money spent ... a simple extrapolation would indicate the percentage of completion. But ITER is nothing like ordinary. Not only is it big, complex and international ... but it is also a one-of-a-kind project, spanning several decades, with a unique form of organization. 'The complication, when it comes to monitoring the project's global progress, comes from the nature of the seven Members' contributions,' explains Colette Ricketts, the Deputy Head of ITER Project Control Office. In ITER, around 90 percent of Member contributions are delivered 'in-kind,' through the procurement of machine components, plant systems and—in the case of Europe—site buildings. (Every Member has established a 'Domestic Agency' that is responsible for contracting with industry.) Although complex to manage, this 'formula' is highly beneficial for the Members' industries which, by responding to ITER's challenging requirements, acquire knowledge and skills that can boost their competitiveness. In order to manage the in-kind contributions of the seven Members, each with its own national currency, exchange rate fluctuations and labour costs, an ITER-specific Unit of Account (IUA) was developed in the early 1990s. Each component, system, building or task was assigned an IUA value. It was agreed that every Member would contribute approximately 9 percent of the total project value in IUA, with the exception of Europe which, as host would contribute approximately 46 percent. With this system in place and a common currency established, the ITER Organization could monitor project progress based on the IUA value of the tasks performed as reported by every Domestic Agency. 'We do not know how much a Domestic Agency actually pays a given contractor to perform a task,' adds Colette. 'However, by assigning a value in IUA to every completed task, we are able to assess ITER progress.' The huge amount of work required to build the ITER installation is broken into some 18,000 different tasks—some large, like the fabrication of a toroidal field coil winding pack, and some smaller-scale like the testing of a gyrotron or the finalization of a manufacturing review for coaxial cables.... All are listed precisely in a database called the Master Schedule. On the fifth day of every month, the Project Control Office receives a Detailed Work Schedule (DWS) from every Domestic Agency and the ITER Organization (for the tasks it is responsible for). This starts the process that, along with discussions and video conferences with responsible officers, provides an instant photograph of the status of the ongoing works throughout the ITER world. It is this information that is used to keep the Master Schedule up to date and, once compounded and treated with the appropriate algorithms, allows the Project Control Office to report on overall progress. 'Maintaining the Master Schedule is our number one mission because the updated information it contains is indispensable for the execution of good management decisions,' says Colette. 'Basically, at any moment, we can answer the question of where we stand in regard to our objective of First Plasma in 2025.' In late November 2017, design activities (which account for 24 percent of all the work required to reach First Plasma) were 93.9 percent finalized; manufacturing and building construction (48 percent of the scope) was more than half-completed (54.2 percent); delivery (8 percent of the scope) was close to the 23 percent mark and assembly and installation (20 percent of the scope) was nearing 1 percent. The algorithms churned and turned and the Master Schedule could speak its oracle: ITER had achieved 50.9 percent of total work scope on the way to First Plasma.

The combined mass of the ITER Tokamak and its enveloping cryostat is equivalent to that of three Eiffel Towers. But not only is it heavy (23,000 tonnes) ... it is also 'alive.' In the course of operation the machine will jump and bounce (slightly), wobble, shrink, and expand—all the while transferring considerable force to the Tokamak Building basemat and bioshield wall. In order to allow for the smooth transfer of these forces, the Tokamak support system will need to be extremely robust, with a strong connection to the building's structure, and yet also allow for a certain freedom of translation and rotation for the cryostat. Connection and stability will be achieved by way of a massive pedestal—a concrete "crown" connected to walls that are radially anchored in the bioshield. Eighteen radial walls will act as the flying buttresses of a gothic cathedral, evenly distributing loads and effort. Movement will be permitted thanks to a circular arrangement of 18 spherical bearings, acting like ball-and-socket joints that will transfer the horizontal and rotational forces generated by the tokamak. The densest, thickest and most intricate rebar arrangements of the entire installation will be required for the crown and radial walls—to the point that it was necessary to build a full-size mockup, reproducing a 20-degree section of the structure, in order to demonstrate its full constructability. As procedures are successively validated on the mockup, they are implemented on the actual construction underway on the floor of the Tokamak Pit. Since the temporary 'lid' split the Pit in two in August, the area has been transformed from an open arena to a cavernous place, resounding with the clanging of metal and the warning signals of the circular crane and aerial work platforms. Workers are busy installing the steel reinforcement for each radial wall: thick rebar (up to 50 millimetres in diameter) arranged in a complex geometry, and massive steel transition pieces (three tonnes each) that will transfer and distribute the loads to the concrete civil work. From both a structural and safety perspective, the crown and its radial walls are one of the most strategic parts of the ITER installation. They should be finalized by the end of the summer.

In light of recent progress on the construction of ITER and developments in domestic fusion research, the Science and Technology Committee on Fusion Energy—part of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)—has revisited the Japanese strategy for the development of a fusion reactor, DEMO. Since 2005 Japan has conducted its fusion energy development program according to the principles outlined in the 'Future Fusion Research and Development Strategy.' But the fusion landscape has changed in the last 12 years, modified by progress in ITER construction; developments in Broader Approach activities (co-sponsored actions by Europe and Japan for the advancement of fusion beyond ITER); the change of public opinion toward nuclear energy, including fusion, after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station; and increased interest in renewable energy sources. In order to remain informed of all developments, MEXT's Science and Technology Committee on Fusion Energy met for over a one-year period. The result is a revised guideline that can be downloaded here in Japanese and English. The guideline is based upon a 2014 report (see it here in English) compiled by the Joint-Core Team for the Establishment of Technology Bases Required for the Development of a Fusion DEMO Reactor, which was organized by the fusion research community in Japan in response to a request from the committee. The guideline defines the basic concept required for the Japanese DEMO reactor—such as steady state electrical output of several hundred megawatts—and ways to address the technical challenges. The decision to transition to the DEMO reactor phase will be taken in the 2030s when ITER will demonstrate deuterium-tritium burning plasmas, with two reviews planned in the 2020s to check progress on the road to ITER. The document also emphasizes the importance of diversifying the work done in universities in parallel to the mission of developing a tokamak reactor, as well as the importance of outreach activities for the general public to ensure the broad diffusion of information and regular dialogue to build support. The ITER Project and the Broader Approach activities are clearly positioned as the most important pillars on the road to a DEMO reactor, as they will address the remaining scientific and engineering challenges and ensure the training of resources in industry and academia. Discussions to create a step-by-step development roadmap—based on the detailed action plan made by the Taskforce on DEMO Comprehensive Strategy under the Science and Technology Committee—will start soon.

The ink has only just dried on the second Monaco-ITER Partnership Arrangement. Funded by the Principality of Monaco, the Arrangement allows the ITER Organization to continue for another ten years to host young scientists and engineers and support their fusion-related research efforts. The conclusion of the agreement also signals the start of a new round of recruitment. As of this week, interested candidates can apply to become a Monaco Postdoctoral Fellow in 2018. 'The postdoctoral fellowship program enables us to engage young people in the ITER Project. We are basically training the next generation of fusion scientists and engineers,' says David Campbell, the former Head of ITER's Science & Operations Department, who had been running the fellowship since its inception in 2008. Since then, 25 young scientists and engineers have been able to participate in ITER, and five of them are still in the middle of their two-year stint. 'It's fantastic for them and fantastic for us,' agrees Tim Luce, who recently took over as Head of Science & Operations, when describing the benefits of the program for the Fellows and for the project. 'They are working on some of the cutting-edge issues in science and technology, with some of the leading people in those areas. It's a great kick-start to their careers,' says Campbell. And what's in it for ITER? 'We get brilliant PhDs who can spend all their time on issues that we need resolved,' Luce adds. 'It's a win-win situation.' There is growing interest in the program among young scientists across the ITER Member higher educational communities. In 2009, the first group of five researchers was selected from among 28 applicants. The current generation of Monaco Fellows had to face a more challenging selection process, similar to that at leading universities, as they were selected from a pool of over 90 young scientists and engineers. 'In the upcoming recruitment campaign we expect to have even more applicants,' says Luce. Himank Anand (India), Di Hu (China), Aneeqa Khan (Europe), Ryan Sweeney (US) and Toon Weyens (Europe) are the current group of Monaco Fellows contributing to ITER. Their work directly feeds into the project. 'We were given proposals for our time here, but we could also give our input,' says Himank, who earned his PhD at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and who works on the development of a real-time first wall heat flux controller for the ITER Tokamak. At the same time, having performed research as a Monaco Fellow at ITER will certainly give a boost to careers. Di, who has a PhD from Bejing University, investigates disruption-related macroscopic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and density increase as a result of shattered pellet injection. 'I am learning a lot in my work here, improving both my academic skills and my knowledge in this area.' Fellows are fully integrated in the work structure at ITER according to Ryan, who received his PhD from Columbia University in New York and whose work involves ensuring the even distribution of thermal and magnetic energies across the first wall during plasma disruptions by injecting shattered pellets of frozen neon. 'We have all made a number of connections here that will keep us networked. That's a huge benefit for the future.' A little over halfway through their time at ITER, the Fellows share a positive outlook on the future and on the impact of their two-year experience. Aneeqa got her PhD at the University of Manchester and has worked on material erosion/migration and on fuel retention since she joined ITER. 'Working here has opened up opportunities,' she says. 'I have a set of new skills that are really transferrable to other areas, not just fusion.' Toon earned his PhD through the European Erasmus program at Eindhoven and Madrid Universities, and already during that time he worked closely with ITER. His work on 3D stability continued seamlessly when he became a Monaco Fellow. Asked what he would tell those interested in the fellowship opportunity at ITER, he summed up what all five current Fellows illustrate with their enthusiasm and engagement: 'It's the best thing you can do if you are interested in fusion.' The sixth recruitment campaign begins this week, for Fellowships beginning in autumn 2018. Interested young scientists and engineers are invited to submit their applications before 1 March 2018. Interviews will take place on 3 and 4 April 2018. For more information on the Principality of Monaco/ITER Postdoctoral Fellowships please consult this website.