As of July 2013, the overall US ITER project was 18% complete, including 83% of R&D activities and 45% of design. Four of the hardware systems have long lead procurements underway. Approximately $600 M has been committed to date. Multiple systems are now in final design, including the central solenoid and the tokamak cooling water system; in total, 66% of the value of US Contributions to ITER is in final design.
Magnet Systems: Toroidal Field Conductor and Central Solenoid
US ITER made substantial progress in the fabrication of ITER toroidal field conductor, with all of the strand production completed and an 800 meter dummy conductor produced. The first fabrication of production cable will be completed by the end of the calendar year. Key contracts include Oxford Superconducting Technologies, Luvata Waterbury, Inc., New England Wire Technologies and High Performance Magnetics.
The central solenoid is now in final design. All of the FY13 milestones for the central solenoid were completed on or ahead of schedule. The development of a dozen tooling stations is underway for fabrication of the central solenoid modules by General Atomics in Poway, Calif. Prototypes for the central solenoid structural support cage were fabricated and tested. A preliminary design review was completed early in the fiscal year for the central solenoid assembly tooling. Key contracts include General Atomics, Taurin, Ridgway, Babcock Noel, Seco Warwick), G&G Steel, Major Tool & Machine, Inc., Cryogenic Materials, Inc., Martinez & Turek, Inc., Cryomagnetics, Inc. and Everson Tesla, Inc.
Tokamak Cooling Water System
Drain tanks for the tokamak cooling water system are now in fabrication. The US will also supply major components for the cooling water system, such as heat exchangers, pressurizers, and volume and chemical control systems. Key contracts include AREVA Federal Services, Joseph Oat Corporation and ODOM Industries.
Vacuum Auxiliary System
The vacuum auxiliary system piping is now in final design. Vacuum testing equipment comprised the first deliveries of US ITER hardware to the ITER site; shipment began in early FY13 and continued throughout the year. A contract was awarded for fabrication of prototype tritium compatible vacuum root pumps, and fabrication is underway for the tritium compatible vacuum screw pump, prototype roughing pump test stand components, full size prototype cryogenic viscous compressor (CVC) vacuum pump and CVC cryogenic valve box.
Steady State Electrical Network
Hardware procurements have been the focus for FY13. The first contract award for the High Voltage Substation Transformers was completed in June and the placement of 5 additional contract awards for the electric power components is planned for the fall of 2013. Additional contracts are planned in FY14.
Pellet Injection and ELM Mitigation
A conceptual design review of the pellet injection system was completed. Fueling and ELM mitigation pellet subsystems designs and prototype testing are underway in the laboratory and on fusion devices. High frequency pellet injection studies on DIII-D have demonstrated a 12x reduction of ELM intensity on blanket and divertor surfaces. Continuous streams of deuterium ice have been produced with the prototype pellet injector extruder. Further testing is planned with a more robust design of the prototype extruder in 2014.
Disruption Mitigation and Runaway Electron Suppression
A conceptual design review of the system was completed. As a result of the review, two approaches are being developed: Fast injection of large pellets shattered into fragments at the plasma edge and massive gas injection using fast gas valves connected to delivery tubes. US ITER developed a novel system using shattered wine cork-sized cryogenic pellets that can deliver sufficient mass of neon and deuterium to quench the plasma current. Development of a large fast-valve is also underway and it will be tested in 2014. These systems are first tested in the laboratory and then deployed on fusion devices to evaluate their effectiveness
Heating and Current Drive: Ion Cyclotron and Electron Cyclotron Transmission Lines
US ITER is developing high-power long-pulse 40-55 MHz transmission lines for the ion cyclotron heating and current drive. ITER levels of power transmission (6 MW line)and pulse length (1 hour) have already been achieved on an IC test stand. Matching system radiofrequency circuits, components, and gas and water cooling have been designed. A system level preliminary design review was completed in early FY13 and a preliminary design for the IC components needed prior to first plasma is planned for the beginning of FY14. Key contracts include Mega, Dielectric, General Atomics and Cincinnati Fan.
Modeling and prototype development is underway for the electron cyclotron transmission lines. Thermal mechanical modeling and a high-power, long-pulse, 170 GHz test stand are being used to develop and qualify components. The electron cyclotron waveguide transmission line spans three large buildings at the ITER tokamak complex, requiring a high precision support structure which is now being designed. Key contracts include General Atomics, Dymenso, Calabazas Creek Research, Inc. and CPI Microwave Power Products.
Diagnostics
Design reviews were held this year for the following diagnostics: Residual Gas Analyzer RGA (PDR completed), Motional Stark Effect Diagnostic (CDR completed) and Core Imaging X-ray Diagnostic (CDR completed). A port plug integration proposal was formalized in two Procurement Arrangements with the ITER Organization and is expected to provide a model for diagnostic agreements for other ITER partners. Key contributors include PPPL, ORNL, LLNL, UCLA, University of Texas, University of Maryland, MIT, UC Davis and Nova Photonics.
Tokamak Exhaust Processing System
An ITER Organization task agreement for the preliminary design of the system is scheduled for completion by the end of September.