DavyMarkham - News
UK Consortium Formed to Bid for ITER Fusion Reactor Vessel

UK companies have formed a consortium to bid for construction of the main reactor vacuum vessel of the 5 billion Euro ITER (International Tokamak Experimental Reactor) nuclear fusion reactor, being built in Cadarache, France. The consortium comprises Davy Markham, a specialist in the fabrication and machining of large structures, and precision fabricator Metalcraft. Engineering consultancy AMEC and The Welding Institute are providing specialist support that will be needed during the construction of the vacuum vessel segments.

One of the worlds largest international co-operative research & development projects, ITER will demonstrate the integrated physics and engineering needed for a fusion power station and is expected to produce 500 MW of power. It will be at least twice the linear dimensions and sixteen times the mass of the Joint European Torus (JET) reactor vessel in Oxfordshire, currently the world's largest fusion reactor.

Europe and Korea are building the ITER vacuum vessel; consisting of nine D-shaped, vacuum vessel sectors, each weighing about 450 tons, its external diameter will measure 19.4 m, with an internal diameter of 6.5 m. Once assembled, the entire structure will be 11.3 m high. Fabrication tolerances for the whole vessel, including field assembly, are expected to be less than 20 mm for both height and width. When all the vacuum vessel's shielding and port structures are included, it will weigh in excess of 5000 tonnes.

Europe is providing seven vacuum vessel sectors and the remaining two will be supplied by Korea. Contracts for the ITER vacuum vessel are likely to be placed during 2009 / 2010.

Kevin Parkin, Managing Director of Sheffield-based Davy Markham, explains the background to the consortium: "ITER represents an exciting business opportunity for ourselves and the rest of UK engineering. The vacuum vessel is a significant engineering challenge that no single company is capable of supplying," he says. "So we've put a consortium together with fabrication specialist Metalcraft, AMEC providing design and programme management services, and The Welding Institute offering technical support, to enable us to present a solid technical and commercial case."

Davy Markham and Metalcraft of Cambridgeshire have worked together previously on projects at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. As well as fabricating complex parts of magnetic resonance imaging machines for the world's leading OEM's, Metalcraft has significant experience of manufacturing vacuum and ultra-high vacuum vessels for major scientific projects, including the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

The key technical challenges associated with the ITER project concern the need to meet the demanding accuracies involved in assembling the vessels and minimising metal shrinkage, necessitating the use of electron beam welding.

Peter Kenny, Managing Director of Metalcraft, is confident of the consortium's ability to overcome any materials-related issues: "Our colleagues at The Welding Institute have significant experience of electron beam welding techniques which will be invaluable for ensuring the consortium addresses many of ITER's technical concerns".

Dan Mistry, UKAEA's Fusion and Industry Manager, is responsible for encouraging UK companies to supply the ITER project and he comments, "ITER is a challenging undertaking that presents many business opportunities for UK companies. I would like to encourage companies, especially those with heavy/medium engineering capabilities that have relevant skills and experience, to get involved with the ITER consortium".