Europe delivers vacuum vessel part for international fusion project
Europe's first vacuum vessel sector for ITER - the largest international fusion experiment. - has been manufactured
The ITER Vaccum Vessel is made of nine sectors. Europe will deliver five and the Republic of Korea the remaining four. The 19.4m-wide, 11.4m-high component weighs around 5,200t.
Each sector contains roughly 150km of welding beads. And Europe's first required more than 20,000 hours of machining and at least 100,000 hours of welding.
The fabrication builds on 10 years of work involving more than 150 professionals and at least 15 companies across Europe and their respective workforces.
The vacuum vessel is a massive double-walled container to house the fusion reaction. It will provide a clean environment by blocking any dust, air, liquids and impurities from entering the chamber.
A set of powerful superconducting magnets will embrace the vesel, causing the plasma to float without touching the walls.
