ITER project – experimental nuclear fusion reactor

Experimental nuclear fusion reactor

The ITER experimental nuclear fusion reactor is certainly the world’s most ambitious project in the energy field. This concept should make it possible to produce energy on a large scale without CO2 emissions or long-life and hight-level radioactive waste.

Fusion is a reaction that powers stellar bodies such as the sun. Under conditions of extreme pressure and temperature, hydrogen nuclei collide, fuse into heavier helium atoms and release tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat.

This project located in Cadarache, France, brings together 35 countries (China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States) to create the largest tokamak ever designed. It will be the first reactor capable of producing a net quantity of energy, meaning that it will generate more energy than it receives to power its heating system (500MW of fusion power for a heating power of 50MW).

Optimex takes part in this ambitious project by realising on behalf of US ITER, 3 pumps for draining and filling the cooling system of the tokamak.

Due to their design, the Optimex pumps were chosen as the most appropriate solution for ITER cooling. The canned motor pump, with its monobloc design, is completely submersible and hermetic. Moreover, this technology offers the best MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) to guarantee high level of reliability to the installations they are equipping.

All pumps must guarantee very high radiation withstand as well as high seismic resistance.
Furthermore, one of the many challenges for the construction of a nuclear fusion reactor is the magnetic field resistance of the devices installed on the site. Indeed, the pumps must not disrupt or be disrupted by the powerful magnetic field that protects the plasma in the reactor core.

Already manufacturing pumps for the Nuclear industry, Optimex is once again pushing higher its level of skills by adapting its technology to the requirements of this new type of reactor and contributing to tomorrow’s energy.

Pumps:
• Draining and Refilling System Normal Drain Tank Refilling/Transfer Pump (26DR00-PL-002)
• Neutral Beam Injector Drain Tank Refilling/Transfer Pump (26DR00-PL-003)
• Auxiliary Drain Tank Transfer Pump -26DR00-PL-004)