DESPITE NUMEROUS DELAYS and the looming threat of budget cuts due to the poor global economy, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, an international project to prove the viability of fusion as an energy source, has reached a new stage in its development.

"We are poised to transition from design work into fabrication," said William Cahill, federal project director at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Cahill's comment came after a fairly positive review of U.S. ITER efforts was performed by the DOE's office of project assessment.

The shift from design to production is evident from recent funding. Over the years, U.S. ITER has awarded more than $260 million in contracts, including 90 major contracts totaling more than $103 million. Much of that funding was for preliminary research and design work on various elements of the fusion reactor and supporting infrastructure. In late 2011, funding was specifically for development. For example, AREVA Federal Services was awarded $13.2 million for the fabrication of five drain tanks for the ITER cooling water system.

In another effort, the University of Tennessee magnet development lab began construction of a full-scale, wooden mock-up of a single ITER central solenoid electromagnet module along with all of the associated support structure and interfaces. Even in today's age of computer design, the wooden mock-up will be used to ensure that engineers and technicians have adequate access to assemble, inspect and maintain central solenoid components in a tight work space. "Experiencing the module at scale gives a better feel of how the design will work," said Madhu Madhukar, associate professor for mechanical, aerospace and biomedical engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. "The mock-up can also help staff identify problems that may arise during construction and installation."

Work at and around the ITER site in southern France is also picking up. At the heart of the facility is the three-building Tokamak Complex, one of which will house the reactor. This complex is being built in a seismic isolation pit with a concrete base and 493 seismic pads to shield the reactor. Last year, excavation of the reactor's site was completed and workers began to pour the building's foundation and install the pads.

In November, work started on the installation of the pylons that will carry 400-kilovolt power lines to the facility. The ITER headquarters building that will include offices for 500 people, meeting rooms and a footbridge to the ITER control room is scheduled to be completed this summer.

Even with all of this activity, the first experiment in the fusion reactor might be pushed back a year to 2020 due to consequences from last year's earthquake in Japan. Facilities in Japan that were carrying out work on the conductor to be placed in the reactor's central solenoid were damaged and some work was delayed.

Source: energybiz.com