Thursday November 14, 2024

Fusion for Energy (F4E) manages Europe’s contribution to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project to build a tokamak fusion device designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale energy source and carbon-free.

Consortium members have been involved in the project since 2010 and said winning the contract reflected their innovation “with the use of cutting-edge digital technologies such as systems modeling and artificial intelligence, aimed at automating processes engineering and project management.

F4E said the contract is expected to last until 2030 with the possibility of extension and “provides for the provision of services in the form of consultancy, design, nuclear security, construction, project and management”. one of the largest architectural engineering contracts ever signed, the two parties will continue to work together to successfully complete the civil and mechanical works carried out at the fusion experiment site.

Thirty-three countries are collaborating on the construction of ITER: the European Union contributes almost half of the cost of its construction, while the other six members (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States ) contribute equally to the rest. . Europe is responsible for the delivery of almost all of ITER’s buildings, facilities, infrastructure and power supplies and the three b.NEXT consortium companies will also assist F4E in supervising work in the Tritium building and contribute to the design and the construction of installations housing generators. and fuel storage tanks.

Stéphane Aubarbier, Deputy CEO of Assystem, declared: “The ITER project is the most ambitious nuclear research program in recent decades. The success of b.NEXT illustrates the strength of our consortium, which brings together complementary expertise in engineering, project management and digital. We believe that fusion technologies are crucial to maximizing sustainable, low-carbon electricity generation around the world, while providing promising career prospects for current and future generations.

François Martin, nuclear director of Egis, declared: “We are proud to participate in fusion technology, to contribute to providing a concrete response to the objective of carbon neutrality by 2050, to strengthening energy security and to improve the quality of life of populations. billions of people around the world. We can see rapid growth in fusion investment and the importance of building strong supply chains to deliver future reactors.

Javier Perea, CEO of Empresarios Agrupados, said: “The ITER project is very relevant for designing the future energy mix and a CO2-free transition. The project will pave the way for a sustainable and inexhaustible source of energy… this contract builds on the tremendous teamwork of b.NEXT and Fusion for Energy partners since 2010, bringing together the best capabilities in advanced engineering for nuclear projects of the highest complexity.

Marc Lachaise, Director of F4E, said: “Europe’s participation in ITER offers companies a unique opportunity to get involved in the largest international fusion project, which will influence the energy mix of the future. F4E, which will strengthen their skills, increase their competitiveness and provide them with concrete experience in the development of tomorrow’s fusion devices. »

The context

ITER’s goal is to operate at 500 MW (for at least 400 seconds continuously) with a plasma heating power of 50 MW. It appears that an additional 300 MW of electricity may be required for operation. No electricity will be produced at ITER and, in addition to what will be learned when it begins operations, as a one-of-a-kind project it offers lessons and benefits to the international fusion industry throughout its lifespan. construction.

The ITER project schedule was revised earlier this year with a revamped plan that targets “a scientifically and technically robust initial phase of operations, including a deuterium-deuterium fusion operation in 2035, followed by full exploitation of the ‘magnetic energy and plasma current’. The previous benchmark, set in 2016, predicted a first plasma in 2025. Various reasons have been put forward for this delay, including the impact of COVID-19 and the emergence of problems in the welding joint region of the vessel sector vacuum and cracks induced by corrosion. in the thermal protection piping.

Director General Pietro ​Barabaschi, speaking in October 2023, said that even without these problems the 2025 first plasma deadline would not be met and said the new timetable was “realistic”.