Scientists of the European Union, India, China, Korea, Russia, USA and Japan are working on the engineering of the International Experimental Thermonuclear Reactor.
The Nuclear Physics Institute (NPI) of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences will become an integration center for foreign participants of the ITER project (ITER, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) - elements from components manufactured in different countries will be assembled and tested on the territory of the Institute. This was reported by the director of ITER-Russia, Anatoly Krasilnikov.
The purpose of the ITER project is to demonstrate the possibility of using thermonuclear energy on an industrial scale. The ITER is comparable in scale with the Large Hadron Collider and the International Space Station. The Nuclear Physics Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences will produce port-plugs for the ITER. These are 45-ton plugs for blocking the neutron flux from the active zone of the thermonuclear reactor’s main element, tokamak, that is, for protection from neutron radiation.
“Now the main works on the production of the port-plug start, as well as the purchase of materials and components begins. Our foreign partners will send the components that are inserted inside the port-plugs to the Nuclear Physics Institute. The role of the institute is to integrate all this into a single system and test it. In this sense, the NPI will become the center of integration for foreign participants of the ITER”, - Anatoly Krasilnikov said.
The internal elements of the port-plugs - the channels of diagnostic systems - are made in South Korea, the United States, India, and China. The equipment will be collected, tested and packed in a special hall, which is one of the largest in the ITER project, according to Mr. Krasilnikov.
The Institute is also working on the reactor’ case for neutron flux monitor, detector modules for a vertical neutron chamber, an electronics module, and data collection and processing systems.
The ITER is represented by the European Union, India, China, Korea, Russia, the United States and Japan. The reactor is being built near the Karadash Research Center in Provence (France). Russian scientific organizations are responsible for the manufacture of 25 systems. The first plasma for the ITER is planned to be received in 2025.