WCA March 2014

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24 Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2014
Industrynews
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:
❍ ITER Tokamak (TF coils highlighted in orange)