International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor 'Domestic Assembly Equipment' Completed and Sent to France

CS Magnetic Inyang Frame

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] Assembly equipment for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), developed with domestic technology, has been completed and loaded onto a ship bound for France, the home base of ITER, which is being established for the development of fusion energy. With the delivery of all assembly equipment entrusted to South Korea, the full-scale assembly of ITER is set to begin. This marks the official start of the ITER construction work aimed at verifying the feasibility of large-scale fusion energy production.

The National Fusion Research Institute announced on the 29th that it completed the manufacturing and verification testing of the final procurement items for ITER assembly equipment, the sector lifting equipment and CS magnet lifting frame, and sent them to the ITER construction site on the 28th.

ITER refers to the fusion experimental reactor jointly developed, constructed, and operated by seven countries?South Korea, the United States, the EU, Japan, China, Russia, and India?to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale fusion energy production.

South Korea is responsible for 100% of the detailed design, manufacturing, and verification testing of ITER assembly equipment. This equipment includes five major assembly items: sector sub-assembly equipment, sector lifting equipment, CS magnet lifting frame, vertical assembly equipment, and central support structure. The sector sub-assembly equipment, vertical assembly equipment, and central support structure have been sequentially shipped to ITER since 2017.

Sector Sub-Assembly Equipment Delivered to ITER International Organization

Through this, South Korea has completed the procurement of 2 out of the 9 items it is responsible for. This procurement is significant as it marks the beginning of full-scale ITER assembly.

ITER is being constructed at the ITER construction site located in Cadarache, France. The procured items for ITER construction include large and heavy structures weighing hundreds of tons, such as vacuum vessels and superconducting magnets, but the assembly process requires extremely precise assembly tolerances within millimeters, making the process very demanding. The ITER Korea Project Team has been collaborating with domestic companies such as SFA Co., Ltd., Eugene MS Co., Ltd., and Iljin Machinery Co., Ltd. since 2010 for the development and manufacturing of assembly equipment.

Nam Kyung-oh, head of the ITER Korea Project Team’s Assembly Equipment Technology Team, stated, "The development of assembly equipment over the past 11 years was successful thanks to the cooperation between domestic researchers and participating companies as one team, overcoming various technical challenges."

Jung Ki-jung, head of the ITER Korea Project Team, explained, "With the completion of this ITER assembly equipment procurement, South Korea’s leading role in advancing the ITER project has been recognized once again. We will continue to strive to secure commercialization technologies for fusion energy through the successful execution of ITER."

The assembly equipment shipped this time will be transported to the ITER construction site along with sector 6 of the vacuum vessel, a core ITER component, which held a completion ceremony at Hyundai Heavy Industries on April 20. Upon arrival at the construction site in France around August, the vertical assembly of the vacuum vessel will begin, marking the start of full-scale assembly of the ITER main device.

Image of ITER sector assembled in sector sub-assembly equipment

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.