ITER - the world's largest puzzle (2020 version)

[Music] eta the world's largest tokamak will demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power [Music] 30 meters in diameter and nearly as many in height the eater tokamak is a marvel of engineering created from an estimated one million components the size and weight of the major components the tiny tolerances for the assembly of major systems the diversity of manufacturers the tight schedule all of these elements combined to make eta an engineering and logistics challenge of enormous proportions it was in november 2006 when the seven eater partners gave the starting signal for one of the largest international scientific endeavors ever attempted soon after diggers and scrapers moved in to prepare the 180 hectare stage [Music] the following years an international team of physicists and engineers pushed hard to complete the machine's design and begin awarding the first contracts to industry [Music] and here we are today 14 years into realization celebrating the official starts of machine assembly despite the challenges of the covit 19 pandemic we have managed to maintain critical activities on the work sites including the reception of a number of eaters exceptional first of a kind components in march the european domestic agency fusion for energy put the finishing touches on eaters assembly theatre a vast hall for preparing then installing machine components in april the first two toroidal field coils superconducting magnets weighing 360 tons each arrived from italy and japan in may the 1250 tonne cryostat base supplied by india was successfully positioned in the tokamak pit late june the first ring-shaped colloidal field coil procured by europe arrived from its manufacturing site in her faye china russia and the united states are also progressing in the procurement of critical path components for eta finally the first sector of the eta vacuum vessel shipped by south korea has arrived on french soil and will soon be transported along the eta itinerary to the work site the buildings and infrastructure needed for first plasma are 75 complete and the pace on planet eater is picking up as machine and plant components arrive from the seven eater members the time has come to put the world's largest puzzle together the assembly of the eater machine following the spectacular lowering of the cryostat base the further assembly of the eta tokamak will proceed in a bottom-up fashion machine installation will continue with the lower cryostat components the lower thermal shields and the temporary support structures for colloidal field coil number six a set of spare pre-compression rings are the next in line followed by the central support structure and the 18 gravity supports for eta's huge toroidal field coils thermal shields that will help protect the superconducting coils are attached and finally colloidal field coil number six is lowered into the pit followed by colloidal field coil number 5. in order to prepare for the arrival of the pre-assembled vessel sectors an inner support column a work floor and 7 radial beams are put in place to stabilize the structure during assembly and welding [Music] while the lower cryostat components are being assembled and welded in the tokamak pit two giants are standing in weights in the adjacent assembly hall standing six stories high the purpose-built sub-assembly tools will suspend each of the nine sectors of the vacuum vessel in turn while thermal shield panels and toroidal field coils are rotated into position by the end of this year the first completed sub-assembly will be transferred to the tokamak pit eight others will follow last in line is the 18 meter tall central solenoid the powerful electromagnet will be the last major component to be installed in the machine pit before the cryostat is closed up in all dozens of custom tools will be required to assemble lift and finally maneuver eater's super-sized components the tools will have a range of lift capacities 500 tons for the upending tool that will turn vacuum vessel components from horizontal to vertical and 1 500 tonnes for the heavy lift cranes that will carry all major tokamak components into the tokamak pit for assembly and welding [Music] there the input assembly tool will support align and stabilize the vacuum vessel sub-assemblies as they are joined and welded this colossus can support a nominal weight of 5400 tons the precise alignment of eta's largest and heaviest components to within tolerances of two to three millimeters is essential to the successful operation of the machine assembly sequences have been planned with this in mind and will utilize sophisticated optical metrology techniques at each step of the assembly process the closure of the cryostat by late 2024 will mark the end of the first assembly phase the eta machine will undergo one year of integrated commissioning and testing culminating in first plasma at the end of 2025. beyond its symbolic importance eta's first plasma will be an important trial run for the machine a first occasion to verify the correct alignment of the machine's magnetic fields and the correct functioning of key systems the very first low-power hydrogen plasma lasting only a few milliseconds will be followed by other shots of increasing power and duration this shakedown mode lasting a few months will be followed by a shutdown phase during which key systems for hydrogen and helium plasmas at nominal power are installed inside the vessel such as the blankets the diverter and in-vessel coils these components will be introduced through dedicated port cells in the vacuum vessel requiring a whole host of custom-made tools work platforms and cranes the world will be watching as decades of planning come to fruition and the eater tokamak is assembled from components shipped from all around the world by the seven eater members eta leading the way towards a new safe source of energy you

Channel: iterorganization

Views: 156,273

Rating: 4.9460464 out of 5

Keywords: ITER, Hydrogen Fusion, Nuclear Fusion, Science

Id: MP2aV26X-70

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 29 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Youpunyhumans]

This machine... if it works, will begin a new era for humanity. Fusion is the Holy Grail of energy production.

[u/jlovins]

Cool video! Now I'm deep diving into this instead of working.... Thanks!! 😄

[u/VirtualLife76]

Surprised I hadn't heard about this before. Looks amazing. Hope it works as expected.

" When supplied with 300 MW of electrical power, ITER is expected to produce the equivalent of 500 MW of thermal power sustained for up to 1,000 seconds "

[u/west420coast]

Lawrence Lidsky an MIT professor in nuclear engineering wrote in the magazine technology review “producing net power from fusion is a valid scientific goal, but generating electricity commercially is an engineering problem. The requirement is to develop a power source that is significantly better than those that exist today and D-T fusion cannot provide that solution. Even if the fusion program produces a reactor no one will want it.”

[u/microchipsndip]

Thank you u/Slappynipples

[u/uh_excuseMe_what]

That is quite sexy

[u/theandyboy]

How does one get into this field as a mechanical engineer? I'm in school at the moment and I'd like to be apart of something like this.

[u/ITER_2035]

Watch more!