The ITER project has reached a milestone with the delivery of the final sector for its vacuum vessel to the construction site in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France. This component is essential for containing fusion reactions and serves as the primary safety barrier for the tokamak reactor.
The completed vacuum vessel will measure 19.4 meters in diameter and weigh 8,500 tons, with an internal volume of 1,400 cubic meters. Each of the nine sectors stands 14 meters tall and weighs approximately 440 tons, requiring over 1,600 meters of welding per sector for assembly.
Manufacturing was divided between South Korea, which produced four sectors, and the European consortium AMW, which delivered the remaining five. The AMW group, including Ansaldo Nucleare and Westinghouse Electric Company, dedicated over two million man-hours and 750 kilometers of welding to their portion of the project.
ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi confirmed that all major components, including magnets, shielding, and vacuum vessel sectors, are now on-site. Despite project delays pushing the expected launch date to 2039, construction of the facility itself was finalized in 2024.
