3D printing yields advantages for US ITER engineers
ITER, the international fusion research facility now under construction in St. Paul-lez-Durance, France, has been called a puzzle of a million pieces.
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Building the heartbeat of ITER
To initiate and maintain plasma current, the international ITER fusion reactor requires a giant solenoid—which will be the largest pulsed electromagnet ever built. The 1,000 metric ton solenoid located in the center of the ITER tokamak will have 5.5 gigajoules of stored energy and be about 18 meters, or 60 feet, tall.
US ITER high-performance pellet injection system advances to next stage
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a continuous extruder for fusion fuel and are advancing state-of-the-art fueling and plasma control for the ITER international fusion reactor now under construction in France. US ITER is managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. Reliable, high-speed continuous fueling is essential for ITER […]
US fabrication of early delivery components for ITER advances
―Katie Elyce Jones Drain tank fabrication for ITER’s tokamak cooling water system is progressing steadily under the leadership of US ITER, which is managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. The drain tanks will be among first major hardware items shipped to the ITER site, now under construction in France. […]
ITER’s central magnet requires a powerful support cage
US ITER is building one of the world’s largest and most powerful electromagnets to energize the ITER tokamak, a device that confines plasma in the shape of a doughnut.
Solutions developed for housing ITER diagnostics
When the ITER experimental fusion reactor begins operation in the 2020s, over 40 diagnostic tools will provide essential data to researchers seeking to understand plasma behavior and optimize fusion performance. But before the ITER tokamak is built, researchers need to determine an efficient way of fitting all of these tools into a limited number of […]
US toroidal field conductor fabrication advances
US ITER and its vendors are moving into a new fabrication phase for the toroidal field magnet system in the international ITER fusion reactor.
Disruption mitigation researchers investigate design options
ITER, the world’s first reactor-scale fusion machine, will have a plasma volume more than 10 times that of the next largest tokamak, JET. Plasma disruptions that can occur in a tokamak when the plasma becomes unstable can potentially damage plasma-facing surfaces of the machine. To lessen the impact of high energy plasma disruptions, US ITER […]
New Procurement Arrangement Signed for Low Field Side Reflectometer Diagnostic
―Agatha Bardoel Understanding and monitoring electron density profile evolution and density fluctuations is essential for assessing the stability of fusion performance inside a tokamak. A new system that monitors electron density, known as the low field side reflectometer, is one of US ITER’s diagnostics contributions to the ITER tokamak now under construction in France. ITER […]
“Neutronics” at Wisconsin, ORNL advances ITER shielding and international collaboration
Computer codes calculate nuclear heating, neutron radiation damage and activation of fusion reactor materials. ―Lynne Degitz US ITER researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are developing advanced processes to assess ITER’s unique tokamak components and materials in the presence of the tremendous amount of neutron flux and energy released by […]