A. Campbell
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
United States
Keywords: Fusion, Supply Chain, ITER, Hardware
Summary:
The international ITER facility will demonstrate production and control of a self-sustaining fusion power source plus deliver a first-of-a-kind fusion R&D resource to support practical fusion energy development. The United States is a partner member in ITER. The international ITER fusion project, a partnership of the United States plus the European Union (host), China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia, is now under construction in St. Paul-lez-Durance, France. The mission of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion energy with the production of up to 500 MW of fusion power for several hundred seconds. US ITER, managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy Office of Science, is responsible for the procurement, fabrication and delivery of the United States’ hardware scope for ITER plant systems. These systems include the central solenoid superconducting magnet, plasma heating and fueling systems, diagnostics systems, the primary cooling water system, vacuum pumping systems, and the associated instrumentation and controls. Procurements for US ITER began in 2007, with the first plant components delivered to ITER in 2014. Hardware for US ITER continues to be designed, procured, and fabricated by a diverse supply chain, including nuclear (fission) and non-nuclear industrial suppliers as well as an emerging fusion supply chain for fusion-specific components; all are addressing challenging ITER specifications. The ITER plant design requires this hardware to function in severe environments including high radiation fields, strong magnetic fields, large mechanical loads, extreme operating and design temperatures (4 Kelvin superconductors to over 150 million Kelvin plasmas), and other impacts such as earthquakes or fire. The hardware ranges from emerging, high-technology components (superconducting magnets, precision-machined wave guides, and diagnostic instruments for extreme radiation and plasma environments) to more conventional components: steel, concrete, process mechanical systems (piping pumps, valves) and software. Lessons learned from US ITER’s experience in hardware contracting, fabrication, and delivery can inform future fusion projects and the fusion supply chain of some common challenges and their possible solutions. Experience in each stage of ITER component development has yielded improved understanding of best practices and risks in moving from design to final delivery. Lessons learned include evaluating manufacturability early in component design, selecting contracting strategies which enable contract success, identifying suppliers and supporting supplier development for fusion components, prototyping to reduce risk and ensure overall success of deliveries, leveraging public and private experts and facilities which enable component completion and acceptance, and performing qualification and testing of components for fusion environments.