New ITER Cryogenic Project Team unveiled

Closer integration, better coordination and more communication have started to change the project culture of ITER, the biggest scientific collaboration in the field of energy. The seven parties of this ambitious experiment are responsible for the production of their share of components, which will be part of the biggest fusion machine. The interfaces are multiple and the installation of all components needs to be seamless. Given the fact that the overall pace of manufacturing has accelerated, the need for more cooperation between all parties has become more apparent. Therefore, a stronger collaborative spirit has started to define the way the different parties will have to work from now on to honour their commitment.

The manufacturing and installation of the cryoplant, cryodistribution components, and their supervision, has generated the need for the creation of the Cryogenic Project Team, which will consist of staff from F4E, ITER International Organization and ITER India. David Grillot (ITER IO) will head the team and he will be assisted by Ritendra Bhattacharya (ITER India) and Marc Simon (F4E) as Deputies. The team will count 40 members of staff from the three organisations, and together with their contractors, they will be entrusted to deliver one of the biggest cryogenic facility in the world. The team will capitalise on shared resources and technical expertise. It will instill a more direct flow of information that will facilitate better project steering and risk management.

David Grillot, Cryogenic Project team leader, said that “We will work as one team for the same project and use in the best possible manner the potential of all members. We are now well advanced with the manufacturing and we are entering an exciting new phase of installation, which will require a lot of drive, commitment and enthusiasm. ” F4E’s Marc Simon explains that “as we are entering the installation phase, a large part of the F4E team is moving to the ITER site to ensure an efficient supervision of these activities which are critical for the success of the project.” The monitoring of manufacturing, the delivery of a large number of important components, including the arrival of the helium quench tanks in autumn, as well as the construction and commissioning of the cryoplant facility, will be some of the tasks that the members of the new team will have to tackle together.