Good morning, WLBOTT World! The word for today is transformation—a fitting theme for personal growth, just like our WLBOTT blog. – Elder G
Yesterday’s BLOTT featured the small, self-contained 1MW personal fusion generator (P-FuG). But how do we get from our current state of engineering to the P-FuG?
In a nutshell, the Intermediate Value Theorem says you can’t get from here to there without going thru all the points in between.
So before we get to the personal fusion generator, we’ll need to get the kinks out of fusion generation.
This leads us to probably one of the most fascinating engineering projects undertaken by Homo Sapiens – ITER.
ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, iter meaning “the way” or “the path” in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process similar to that of the Sun.
Upon completion of construction of the main reactor and first plasma, planned for 2033–2034, ITER will be the largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s, with six times the plasma volume of JT-60SA in Japan, the largest tokamak operating today.
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ITER’s thermonuclear fusion reactor will use over 300 MW of electrical power to cause the plasma to absorb 50 MW of thermal power, creating 500 MW of heat from fusion for periods of 400 to 600 seconds. This would mean a ten-fold gain of plasma heating power (Q), as measured by heating input to thermal output, or Q ≥ 10. As of 2022, the record for energy production using nuclear fusion is held by the National Ignition Facility reactor, which achieved a Q of 1.5 in December 2022. Beyond just heating the plasma, the total electricity consumed by the reactor and facilities will range from 110 MW up to 620 MW peak for 30-second periods during plasma operation. As a research reactor, the heat energy generated will not be converted to electricity, but simply vented.
For comparison of the 620 MW peak input requirements for ITER, Elder G describes the power output of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant had four reactors, each with a capacity of around 1,000 megawatts (MW). The total capacity of the plant, when all four reactors were operational, was approximately 4,000 MW of electrical output. Specifically, Reactor No. 4, which was involved in the 1986 disaster, had a capacity of 1,000 MW.
Elder G
Construction of the ITER complex in France started in 2013, and assembly of the tokamak began in 2020. The initial budget was close to €6 billion, but the total price of construction and operations is projected to be from €18 to €22 billion; other estimates place the total cost between $45 billion and $65 billion, though these figures are disputed by ITER. Regardless of the final cost, ITER has already been described as the most expensive science experiment of all time, the most complicated engineering project in human history, and one of the most ambitious human collaborations since the development of the International Space Station (€100 billion or $150 billion budget) and the Large Hadron Collider (€7.5 billion budget).
06 Jan, 2012 The Seismic Pit basemat is now complete
Work on this 1.5-metre-thick structure began before dawn on a warm August day six months ago. Since then, some 18,000 m³ of concrete have been poured over a dense array of steel rebar and stirrups—some 3,400 tonnes of metal in all.
In order to insure close-to-perfect homogeneity of the basemat, each slab had to be poured in one continuous operation lasting no more than an extended workday. Considering that the pumps could deliver an average of 100 m³ of concrete per hour, the 11,500 m² surface of basemat was broken down into 21 sections, each to be filled successively with 800 m³ of concrete.
In order to ensure ”close to perfect” homogeneity, each slab had to be poured in one continuous operation lasting no more than an extended workday.
This slab-by-slab technique also reduced the forces exerted by concrete “shrinkage” on the steel rebar.
The Seismic Pit basemat was designed to be extremely strong. It supports the anti-seismic pillars and bearings upon which the Tokamak Complex basemat will rest, and will ultimately bear the 360,000 tonnes of the Tokamak Complex.
A central area of the basemat—approximately 80 m²—was reinforced to bear the weight of the mammoth central column assembly tool that will operate during the machine assembly phase on the Tokamak Complex basemat. This extra strength was achieved through an increased density of stirrups.
The ITER cryostat is a large 3,850-tonne stainless steel structure surrounding the vacuum vessel and the superconducting magnets, with the purpose of providing a super-cool vacuum environment. Its thickness (ranging from 50 to 250 millimetres (2.0 to 9.8 in)) will allow it to withstand the stresses induced by atmospheric pressure acting on the enclosed volume of 8,500 cubic meters. On 9 June 2020, Larsen & Toubro completed the delivery and installation of the cryostat module. The cryostat is the major component of the tokamak complex, which sits on a seismically isolated base.
The whole reactor building is built on top of almost 500 seismic suspension columns and the whole complex is located almost 300 m above sea level. Overall, extremely rare events such as 100-year flood of the nearby Durance river and 10,000-year earthquakes were assumed in the safety design of the complex and respective safeguards are part of the design.
The Tokamak machine in which the fusion process will take place is being assembled with all the associated facilities inside a mammoth building measuring 180 m long by 60 m wide and 60 m high. The building sits within a huge concrete-lined excavation, and rests on pedestals on a total of 493 seismic isolation bearings.
These bearings had to be designed to isolate the reactor building from the impact of ground motions generated during an earthquake. As well as meeting the structural performance criteria, the materials that are used in the bearings have to be durable and guaranteed to retain a certain level of performance over the 60 years of service that is required.
The bearings consist of a sandwich of steel plates of varying thicknesses in between layers of polychloroprene that provide the isolation. The sandwich is injected with mortar between two steel bearing plates that are attached to the structures above and below them by steel studs, and each assembly measures 1.1 m square and 285 mm thick.
Russia occupies one of the key positions in the implementation of the international ITER Project.[…]
The Russian Federation has multiple obligations to the ITER project, including the supply of 22 kilometers of conductors based on 90 tonnes of superconducting Nb3Sn strands for winding coils of a toroidal field and 11 km of conductors based on 40 tonnes of superconducting NbTi strands for windings of coils of a poloidal field of the ITER magnetic system, sent in late 2022. Russia is responsible for the manufacture of 179 of the most energy-intensive (up to 5 MW/sq.m) panels of the First Wall. […]
The obligation of the Russian Federation also includes conducting thermal tests of ITER components that are facing the plasma. Today, Russia, thanks to its participation in the project, has the full design documentation for the ITER reactor.
Not only did the Russians steal all the engineering plans, they were caught trying to steal the washing machines in the ITER bed and breakfast.
Olga caught red-handedNow all my village needs is electricity and running water!
A Modern Day Stonehenge
One article describes the construction of the ITER as a modern day Stonehenge. We asked Elder G to compare the two projects.
Elder G: Describing ITER as a “modern-day Stonehenge” is a fitting metaphor in several ways. Like Stonehenge, ITER is a monumental structure that represents the pinnacle of technological and engineering achievement for its time. Here’s how the comparison makes sense:
Monumental Scale
Stonehenge: Constructed over 4,000 years ago, Stonehenge is one of the largest and most intricate prehistoric structures, built with massive stones transported over long distances.
ITER: Similarly, ITER is a massive construction project, involving millions of components from all over the world. Its sheer size and complexity make it a landmark of modern engineering. The reactor’s tokamak will weigh over 23,000 tons, requiring state-of-the-art technology to assemble and maintain.
Symbol of Future Hope
Stonehenge: Scholars believe that Stonehenge was built for religious or astronomical purposes, perhaps to connect the builders to their understanding of the cosmos and the cycles of life, or as a place of spiritual importance.
ITER: ITER symbolizes humanity’s hope for a better future—specifically, for a source of clean, sustainable energy that could solve some of the most pressing environmental and energy challenges facing the world today. Like Stonehenge’s alignment with the solstices, ITER is aligned with the future, aiming to create a revolutionary change in energy production.
Technological Achievement
Stonehenge: The construction of Stonehenge was an extraordinary technical challenge for its era, requiring advanced knowledge of astronomy, geometry, and construction techniques.
ITER: Building ITER involves cutting-edge technology in fields such as superconducting magnets, plasma physics, and nuclear engineering. The precision and innovation needed to create and control plasma at extreme temperatures mirror the ancient challenge of erecting a perfectly aligned stone structure.
Legacy for Future Generations
Stonehenge: Thousands of years after it was built, Stonehenge still stands, capturing the imagination of people and providing a window into the capabilities and beliefs of ancient societies.
ITER: If successful, ITER could represent a landmark achievement that will be remembered for generations, not just as a technological marvel, but as a breakthrough in humanity’s quest for clean energy. It could be the blueprint for future fusion power plants that change how we power the world.
Both ITER and Stonehenge are, in their own ways, testaments to humanity’s desire to understand and harness the forces of the universe. While Stonehenge connects us to the past, ITER points us toward a future of scientific possibility.
The Blessing of the Tokamac
WLBOTT has been asked to provide the Blessing of the Tokamac at the upcoming “Flip The Switch” ceremony.
