First Large-scale Fusion Reactor Hits Halfway Mark

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Construction of the world's first commercial scale fusion power reactor has reached the halfway point in Cadarache in the south of France.

The organisation behind the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) said that it has now passed the 50% stage, seven years after work started in 2010. The 20 billion-euro ($23.5 billion) Tokamak project is an international collaboration between the European Union (EU), China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States. It has been classed as the most complex science project in human history.

It will use hydrogen fusion, controlled by superconducting magnets, to produce massive heat energy which will be used to drive turbines to produce electricity. Unlike current nuclear power where energy is created by splitting atoms, a fusion reaction, according to ITER, happens by fusing atoms together. The hydrogen plasma will be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius, 10 times hotter than the core of the sun, to enable the fusion reaction. If successful it will produce three to four times more power than conventional nuclear, but benefit by not having the associated costs of high-level radioactive waste disposal like nuclear nor the emissions associated with fossil fuel plants.

ITER will need roughly 10 million specialised parts in total. These are being manufactured in industrial facilities all over the world before being shipped to the Cadarache worksite where they are assembled, piece-by-piece, into the final machine.

Fuel also is abundant. The hydrogen reactor will use two forms of hydrogen fuel: deuterium, which is easily extracted from seawater, and tritium, which is bred from lithium inside the fusion reactor. The reactor will have an initial generating capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), with first plasma scheduled for 2025.

In 2013, Industrial Info reported on the project's first key milestone when pouring of the concrete basemat commenced. Over the next six months, 15 concrete segments were poured, requiring 15,000 cubic metres of concrete and 4,000 tons of reinforcement for the B2 slab, which acts as a single foundation for the three buildings of the ITER Tokamak Complex. For additional information, see December 20, 2013, article - Milestone for First Fusion Reactor.

"The stakes are very high for ITER," explained Bernard Bigot, Ph.D., director-general of ITER. "When we prove that fusion is a viable energy source, it will eventually replace burning fossil fuels, which are non-renewable and non-sustainable. Fusion will be complementary with wind, solar and other renewable energies. ITER's success has demanded extraordinary project management, systems engineering, and almost perfect integration of our work. Our design has taken advantage of the best expertise of every member's scientific and industrial base. No country could do this alone. We are all learning from each other, for the world's mutual benefit."

The ITER project, since its inception in 1985, has benefitted also from support of world leaders, historically and currently, Bigot noted.

"More recently, President Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump exchanged letters about ITER after their meeting this past July. One month earlier, President Xi Jinping of China hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders in a showcase featuring ITER and fusion power at the World EXPO in Astana, Kazakhstan. We know that other leaders have been similarly involved behind the scenes. It is clear that each ITER member understands the value and importance of this project."

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