Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European Union (EU) organisation managing Europe’s contribution to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) under construction in France, has awarded a contract to Spanish GDES Group’s Surface Treatment Unit for the application of specific coatings to the Iter buildings.
The GDES group will undertake the work during the coming 3.5 years and will involve up to 40 workers from its French subsidiary of the company. GDES is part of the team that will build the enclosure where the Iter tokamak will be housed.
GDES will be responsible for applying different types of coatings over a total surface of 120,000 square metres. The coatings to be applied include: decontaminable and non-decontaminable coatings; anti-carbonation coatings; coatings with high resistance to chemicals and heavy traffic; coatings with high resistance to irradiation; coatings that meet additional electrostatic conductivity requirements; and coatings resistant to oils and specific chemical elements.
The value of the contract was not given.
GDES has been working in Spain’s nuclear sector since the late 1970s.
Photo: ITER Construction site (Credit: Iter Organization)
