First ever final design review completed

F4E held its first ever final design review (FDR) during the summer. The meeting, which paves the way for the start of manufacturing, was held to assess the final design of the ITER continuous external Rogowski coils. These coils are to be located outside the vacuum vessel, within the cases of three Toroidal Field (TF) coils. Their purpose is to measure the toroidal current flowing within the contour of the TF coils, which approximates to the plasma current under steady conditions, a key measurement with relevance for safety and plasma control.

While most of the components to be delivered by F4E are based on final designs provided by the ITER International Organisation, in some cases, such as with the continuous external Rogowski coils, F4E is responsible for finalising the design and so for conducting the FDR.

The meeting was led by an official review panel, appointed by F4E and chaired by Dr Edward Strait from General Atomics (United States). It comprised international technical experts as well as F4E and ITER International Organisation representatives in areas such as quality control, safety and interfacing components. Representatives from the F4E supplier, led by CEA (France), and relevant F4E and ITER staff also attended. Presentations and discussions focused on checking that the selected design-solution definition met the system requirements in terms of performance, integration in ITER and documentation. Factory and site acceptance test procedures were also presented, as well as those for assembly, installation and commissioning.

In their report, the panel noted their appreciation for the large amount of work that had gone into the design, the supporting analysis and testing of prototypes and confirmed their satisfaction with the maturity of the design. The call for tender for the system is planned for early 2014, following the resolution of a few outstanding issues noted by the panel, with manufacturing commencing later in the year.