US ITER is a DOE Office of Science project managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The central solenoid is the heart of the ITER tokamak and serves as a critical element in the ITER magnet system. The United States is responsible for the design, research and development, and fabrication of the central solenoid’s seven modules, plus the associated structure, assembly tooling, bus extensions, and cooling connections.
ITER diagnostic systems provide measurements to aid understanding of plasma behavior and optimize fusion performance. The United States is responsible for the research and development, design, and fabrication for 14% of ITER’s port-based diagnostic systems, including integration of four diagnostic port plugs, plus seven instrumentation systems out of a total of approximately 45 individual diagnostic systems.
The United States is developing the technology for shattered pellet injection, the key element of ITER’s disruption mitigation system. The system’s purpose is to protect plasma-facing components from heat and other forces that arise during a plasma current disruption event.
The United States is providing ITER’s electron cyclotron heating transmission lines, which will enable a mission-critical plasma by supporting the delivery of microwave energy with a unique range of power, pulse length, and frequency.
The United States is providing instrumentation and controls for six ITER systems: electron cyclotron heating transmission lines, ion cyclotron heating transmission lines, diagnostics, pellet injection, roughing pump systems, and vacuum auxiliary systems.
The ion cyclotron heating transmission lines provided by the United States will enable a mission-critical burning plasma in ITER by supporting the delivery of high-power radio frequency heating.
The pellet injection system has three functions: providing a steady state supply of deuterium and tritium fuel; mitigating the impact of edge localized modes on the plasma-facing components; and providing impurity pellets for physics studies. The United States is responsible for the research and development, design, and fabrication of the pellet injection system for ITER.
The ITER tokamak includes ports that house diagnostic systems that provide measurements to aid understanding of plasma behavior and optimize fusion performance. US ITER is providing four port plugs and supporting the integration of 18 tenant diagnostics into these ports.
ITER’s steady state electrical network is an alternating current power substation and distribution system that supplies electrical power to all ITER conventional systems and facilities. The United States contributed 75% of the equipment required for the network, excluding cables and emergency power.
ITER’s tokamak cooling water system is designed to cool client systems, such as the first-wall/blanket, vacuum vessel, divertor, and neutral beam injector. The United States is responsible for the design, fabrication, acceptance testing, and delivery of the tokamak cooling water system.
ITER’s tokamak exhaust processing system separates the exhaust gases into a pure hydrogen isotope stream and a hydrogen-free gas stream. The United States is responsible for the design, fabrication, and delivery of the tokamak exhaust processing system.
The United States fabricated 8% of ITER’s toroidal field coil conductor, which will generate the immense toroidal magnetic fields needed to confine the plasma inside the ITER tokamak. Altogether, ITER’s 18 toroidal field coils will produce a magnetic field of 5.3 tesla around the ITER tokamak torus.
ITER has unique vacuum pumping requirements due to high throughput tritium operation. The United States is responsible for the development, design, and fabrication of the vacuum auxiliary and roughing pumps systems.