WCA March 2014

Industry news

❍ ITER Tokamak (TF coils highlighted in orange)

Ridgway’s contract win RIDGWAY Machines has been awarded a further major contract for the ITER international nuclear fusion reactor project. Placed by Elytt Energy, a European-based innovator in high technology solutions for atomic fusion and new energy sources, this order covers additional tape wrapping head systems to insulate superconductor coils for the ITER Toroidal Field (TF) magnets. Elytt Energy is part of a European Union (EU) consortium, together with ASG Italy and Iberdrola Spain, responsible for the manufacture of ten winding packs for the TF coils. The packs will then be supplied by Fusion for Energy (F4E) who are managing Europe’s contribution to ITER. ITER has been called the largest science experiment in history and aims to demonstrate the technical and scientific feasibility of fusion power for commercial-scale energy. The ITER Tokamak machine will be one of the most complicated machines ever engineered – 30 metres high and weighing 23,000 tons, housing an estimated one million components. The TF magnets produce a magnetic field around the Torus, whose primary function is to confine plasma particles. The coils weigh 6,540 tons; after the vacuum vessel they are the largest ITER components. The ITER organisation was formed to advance the development of hydrogen fusion as an energy source. Fusion is a safe, carbon-free energy source fuelled by abundant resources (heavy hydrogen from sea water) and can produce high levels of power. Partners China, the European Union (EU), India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States will implement the project during its estimated ten-year construction and 20-year operational phases. The seven ITER members share every aspect of the project, including science, procurement, finance and staffing, with the aim that ultimately each member will have the know-how to produce its own fusion energy plant. Ridgway recently announced a major contract to provide taping heads to insulate the ITER Central Solenoid (CS) magnet coils supplied by the US. Ridgway Machines – UK Website : www.ridgwayeng.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2014