Fusion for Energy (F4E), the organisation managing Europe’s contribution to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), in collaboration with the AMW consortium (Ansaldo Nucleare, Westinghouse and Walter Tosto) has completed the manufacture of the second European sector of the ITER vacuum vessel (plasma chamber).
The vacuum vessel is a massive double-walled container that will house the fusion reaction. It will provide a clean environment blocking any dust, air, liquids and impurities from entering its chamber. A set of powerful superconducting magnets that will embrace the vessel will prevent the plasma involved in the fusion reaction from touching its walls. The ITER vacuum vessel will comprise nine sectors. Europe will deliver five of them and the Republic of Korea the remaining four.
The second sector is 19.4 metres in diameter, 11.4 metres high and weigh approximately 5,200 tonnes. It complies with strict standards set by France’s Nuclear Safety Authority to operate safely. It will depart from Italy in March and travel by sea to Fos-sur- Mer, the industrial port of Marseille. Then, it will be loaded onto a massive trailer to be driven to ITER site. Europe’s remaining three sectors are in production and will be delivered in the next two years.
Each sector counts roughly 150 km of welding beads. In all manufacturing facilities, large teams of technicians, metrology experts, engineers and quality assurance officers continuously inspect the production to mitigate risks. More than 20 000 hours of machining and at least 100 000 hours of welding were required to produce Europe’s second sector.
A ceremony marking the achievement was held in Ortona a Mare, Abruzzo, at Walter Tosto, attended by senior representatives from industry, politicians/policy makers, and members of the technical teams. F4E has been collaborating for more than ten years with the AMW consortium, involving directly 150 professionals, and more than 15 companies across Europe with their respective teams.
Addressing the ceremony, F4E Director Marc Lachaise said completion of the second European sector “demonstrates yet again the exceptional manufacturing skills of our industry and its ability to apply quickly lessons learned from the first sector”.
Roberto Adinolfi, President of Ansaldo Nucleare said completion of the second EU sector of the vacuum vessel by the AMW Consortium “confirms the ability of the European supply chain to combine strengths and capabilities existing in our individual companies to deliver high quality complex components, at the forefront of nuclear technologies”.
Luca Oriani, Westinghouse President of Long-Term Operations noted that each of the sectors “is a testament to years of cutting-edge cooperation and technology delivery, and it is humbling to reflect on all the work and innovation that allowed this achievement”.
The CEO of Walter Tosto, Luca Tosto, stated: “Today, we achieve an extraordinary milestone, the result of a shared commitment among several industrial entities that have turned this dream into an exceptional outcome. The certainty of success was by no means guaranteed, and it represented a real challenge for all the companies involved in the enhancement and realisation of this project…. This journey, undertaken with confidence, has strengthened us and made us more competitive, demonstrating that we are ready for a leading role within the nuclear sector’s value chain.”
F4E was created by a decision of the Council of the European Union as an independent legal entity and was established in April 2007 for a period of 35 years. Its offices are in Barcelona, Spain. F4E completed manufacture of the first of vacuum vessel in October 2024.
The goal of ITER is to operate at 500 MW (for at least 400 seconds continuously) with 50 MW of plasma heating power input. Some 35 nations are collaborating in the construction of ITER, which began in 2010, many of them through their Domestic Agencies. The European Union is contributing almost half of the cost of its construction, while the other six members (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the USA) are contributing equally to the rest.
Construction began in 2010 and the original 2018 first plasma target date was put back to 2025 by the ITER council in 2016. However, in June this year, a revised project plan was announced which aims for “a scientifically and technically robust initial phase of operations, including deuterium-deuterium fusion operation in 2035 followed by full magnetic energy and plasma current operation”.
