Europe completes first Factory Acceptance Test for ITER Divertor Cassette series

The ITER plasma is expected to reach temperatures as high as 150 million °C.  Some of the components inside the vacuum vessel, housing the fusion reaction, will be more exposed to these extreme conditions. The divertor is one of them, also known as a “plasma facing component”, because it will receive part of that blazing heat on its surface.

Located in the lower part of the machine, the divertor is made of 54 units known as cassettes, forming a massive tray of roughly 142 m² where all impurities fall. Each cassette measures 0.8 x 2.3 x 3.5 m and weighs roughly 8 tonnes with all components installed. With the help of remote handling, the heavy components will be maintained, repaired or replaced due to the fact that human operators will not be allowed to access the vacuum vessel.

Europe is responsible for the production of 58 cassette bodies (54 + 4 spare) to be delivered to ITER Organization. In total, F4E has signed four contracts: two with Walter Tosto, one with the consortium of SIMIC–CSI, and another with SIMIC for the procurement of 15 cassette bodies. During the last five years, a team of about 20 people from F4E have been working together with ITER Organization, and our industrial supply chain to manufacture these components.

Early in April, teams from F4E, ITER Organization and the SIMIC-CSI consortium gathered at SIMIC (Italy), to witness the first Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) performed on an ITER Divertor Cassette. Hydraulic pressure tests allow us to identify water related leaks by letting pressurised water to run inside the component, and they also help us to monitor the component’s response to pressure. The technical teams concluded that this stage was completed with resounding success. The structure responded overall well to the pressure. The component then will go through a “baking cycle”, to dry it in an industrial oven from any liquids left inside and prepare the component for the next Factory Acceptance Test (Hot Helium Leak Test).

Various specialists from engineering, metrology, quality assurance and control, procurement, and risk assessment contributed to this significant technical milestone for Europe’s contribution to ITER.

“Producing a one-of-a-kind component requires a lot of investment in team building, planning, setting up interfaces and thinking of contingencies. We had to cope with several technical complexities in manufacturing and we were able to draw some lessons in the field of engineering to comply with demanding Iter requirement,” explained Vassilis Stamos, F4E Technical Project Officer for this contract.

The success of the first FAT gives Europe confidence and prepares the ground for helium leak tests and dimensional checks, expected to take place later in the year. According to Laurent Guerrini, F4E Project Manager of the Divertor Cassette Body Project: “The good collaboration between all parties, the valuable expertise provided by all members of the team, and our perseverance paid off.”

Marianna Ginola, SIMIC Head of Nuclear, Fusion Energy and Research Department, stated: “We are very proud to have achieved such an important milestone for the project and to continue our journey in the manufacturing of complex parts for the ITER project. This results from our company’s commitment, the hard work, dedication of our teams, and the great collaboration with F4E teams. We will continue to deliver with passion for the successful achievement of the next steps of this project.”