Fusion for Energy (F4E) has extended the ITER Architect Engineer contract with Engage until 2025.
The contract, worth €30 million, is one of the biggest engineering contracts in Europe and covers the delivery of the entire building and civil infrastructure scope of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) under construction in France.
The Engage consortium comprises Assystem, Atkins, Egis, and Empresarios Agrupados. The scope of the work is to assist F4E through the entire construction process, from the elaboration of the detailed design to the final acceptance of the work. The scope includes the different ITER buildings, as well as the site infrastructure and the distribution of the power supplies.
Since its initial award to Engage in 2010, the majority of ITER buildings are close to completion with six buildings at the site already delivered. This has involved 3,700,000 hours of work from around 300 expert engineers and designers working around the clock to build the prototype.
The next phase of the work will require Engage to deliver the Tokamak building in 2020, a key milestone in achieving first plasma in 2025.
Laurent Schmieder, F4E Programme Manager for Buildings, Infrastructure and Power Supplies, said: “The prolongation of our collaboration with the Engage consortium relies on the solid partnership, which has been established step by step since the contract signature."
"It’s a clear demonstration of our determination to conclude the design and construction of all buildings of the most ambitious project in the field of fusion energy,” he added.
Fusion for Energy (F4E) is the European Union’s organisation for Europe’s contribution to ITER.
F4E also supports fusion R&D initiatives through the Broader Approach Agreement signed with Japan and prepares for the construction of demonstration fusion reactors (DEMO). 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.
Photo: Aerial view of ITER construction site, Cadarache, France, October 2019 © ITER Organization/EJF Riche
