Engineering news
Amec Foster Wheeler has signed a contract to supply maintenance and remote handling services to ITER, the world’s largest nuclear fusion research project.
The framework contract, expected to be worth up to €4 million over four years, covers the provision of engineering support based on experience of nuclear installation in-service inspection for developing the maintainability and inspectability of the ITER structures, systems, and components during their design.
The contract will cover critical areas such as the hot cell, where irradiated components are dismantled and treated, and the Cryostat, at 3,850 tonnes the second largest high-vacuum pressure chamber ever built.
The company will also carry out work to analyse reliability, control costs, carry out virtual and physical mock-ups to test procedures, and produce maintenance documentation.
Greg Willetts, vice-president for consultancy at Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy business, said: “This contract win represents another step forward in our aspiration to play a major role across the ITER project. It underlines our leading expertise in nuclear remote handling and robotics and highlights the key role we are playing in developing future nuclear technologies while continuing to support the existing nuclear fission power industry.”
A total of 35 nations are collaborating to build the world's largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers our Sun and stars.
The experiments that will be carried out at ITER’s base at Cadarache in the South of France are crucial to advancing fusion science and preparing the way for the fusion power plants of tomorrow.
In May a joint venture led by Amec Foster Wheeler won a €70 million, seven-year contract to carry out all activities ranging from design, manufacturing, factory testing, delivery, on-site integration, commissioning and final acceptance tests for ITER’s neutral beam remote handling system.