Contract signed for Diagnostic Outer Vessel Coils

F4E has signed a contract worth 2 million EUR with Elytt Energy, a company based Spain, for the manufacturing of more than 400 coils which will be installed on the outer surface of the ITER Vacuum Vessel. These coils will measure the magnetic field strength surrounding the ITER machine core, and will thus contribute to determination of key parameters such as the shape and position of the plasma inside, during reactor operations.

“This is a technically challenging task, as these coils must last the entire lifetime of ITER without maintenance, after their installation on the machine”, says Glenn Counsel, F4E’s Manager of the Diagnostics Team.

The Outer Vessel Coils are part of the ITER magnetics diagnostic. The location of these diagnostics on the exterior, rather than the interior, of the ITER Vacuum Vessel means that measurements are less accurate but advantageously more robust as they are much less exposed to neutrons released during the fusion reactions.

Elytt Energy will be supplying coils in various sizes, with external dimensions in the range of 150 – 300 mm and thickness of 11 mm, to fit in the narrow space between the ITER Vacuum Vessel and its surrounding heat shields.

The initial design concept for these coils was developed by ITER IO. On this basis, a detailed design was developed under an F4E grant led by CEA (France) supported by CRPP (now SPC – Switzerland) and CIEMAT (Spain). Final (manufacturing) specifications, to be used by Elytt Energy, were subsequently developed by ITER IO.

Delivery of these coils to ITER IO for installation on the ITER Vacuum Vessel is foreseen for mid-2018. They will be commissioned, along with the rest of the magnetics diagnostic, once integration of the ITER machine has been completed, for use during first plasma operations.