Ansaldo Nucleare has completed manufacturing and testing a remote handling system for the ITER nuclear fusion project, reaching a key milestone for the programme.
The final factory acceptance test was completed on schedule and the equipment will be shipped to the ITER site at Cadarache in southern France in the coming weeks. The work was carried out for Fusion for Energy (F4E), the European organisation managing Europe’s contribution to ITER.
The system is designed to handle the Equatorial Port Plugs that will be installed around the ITER tokamak. These large structures will contain diagnostics, heating equipment and support systems, while also providing access to the reactor interior for maintenance work.
As the reactor environment will become highly radioactive during operation, maintenance tasks will rely on remote-controlled equipment rather than direct human access. The handling system developed by Ansaldo Nucleare will transport, position and remove the port plugs during assembly and servicing activities.
According to the companies involved, this is the first ITER remote handling system to be fully manufactured and qualified for use on site. Testing verified the interaction of the complete machine system and was carried out with support from ITER Organization and industrial partners SOLVING, Officine L.C.M and Sinau Genova.
The equipment will next be installed at ITER’s new remote handling test facility at Cadarache, where engineers will prepare for future assembly and maintenance operations inside the reactor.
ITER is the international fusion project under construction in France that aims to demonstrate whether fusion can become a large-scale carbon-free energy source. Europe funds almost half of the project through F4E, with China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the USA contributing to the remainder.
