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With the recent announcement to construct the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France, UK industry has the opportunity to bid for a share of the €5billion construction budget. As ITER is based in France, there could be over €2billion of business for EU industry over a period of 10 years, that is €200million a year for the next decade.
The challenge facing UKAEA's Fusion and Industry team is to identify and assist UK companies to compete for international supply contracts for the construction and operation of the ITER.
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| By Dan Mistry, Fusion and Industry manager at UKAEA |
With the recent announcement to construct the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France, UK industry has the opportunity to bid for a share of the €5billion construction budget. As ITER is based in France, there could be over €2billion of business for EU industry over a period of 10 years, that is €200million a year for the next decade.
The challenge facing UKAEA's Fusion and Industry team is to identify and assist UK companies to compete for international supply contracts for the construction and operation of the ITER.
UK industry has played a big role in the development of the fusion research programme at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's Culham Science Centre in Oxfordshire. UK industry has much to offer the ITER project in terms of high quality engineering and technology, and services.
We recommend that companies interested in supplying goods/services to ITER first visit www.iter.org to learn more about the project, and then our website www.fusion.org.uk/industry to register their details. ITER will require the services of numerous organisations; in fact the European procurement philosophy is likely to be to involve industry as much as possible including small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
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| Schematic layout of the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) |
What is ITER?
ITER is an experimental reactor which will reproduce the physical reaction - fusion - that heats the sun and other stars. Existing experiments have already shown that it is possible to replicate this process on Earth. ITER aims to do this at a scale and in conditions that will demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion as an energy source.
What is fusion?
When the nuclei of light atoms come together at very high temperatures, they fuse and this produces enormous amounts of energy. In the core of the sun or a star, the huge gravitational pressure allows this to happen at temperatures of around 10 million degrees Celsius.
At the much lower pressures that we can produce on Earth, temperatures to produce fusion need to be much higher. Effective energy producing fusions require that gas from a combination of isotopes of hydrogen - deuterium and tritium - is heated to very high temperatures (100 million degrees centigrade) and confined for at least one second. To reach these temperatures there must first be powerful heating, and thermal losses must be minimised by keeping the hot fuel particles away from the walls of the container. This is achieved by creating a magnetic "cage" made by strong magnetic fields, which prevent the particles from escaping. The development of the science and technology involved in this process is the purpose of the European fusion programme.
What are the attractions of fusion as an energy source?
The key advantages of fusion are:
- It could provide a large-scale energy source with raw fuels which are abundant and available everywhere.
- Very low global impact on the environment - no CO2 greenhouse gas emissions
- Day to day operation of a fusion power station would not require the transport of radioactive materials
- Power stations would be inherently safe, with no possibility of "meltdown" or "runaway reactions"
- Unlike nuclear fission, there is no long lasting radioactive waste to create a continuing burden for future generations.
Who are the six parties to ITER?
The six international parties that are cooperating to develop ITER are: China, the European Union, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. The negotiations take place under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
What was decided in Moscow on 28 June and what happens next?
At the Moscow meeting the six parties settled the outstanding issue of the site of ITER. This means that ITER will be built at the site proposed by the EU, Cadarache in Southern France. It is expected that the parties will initial the international agreement around the end of 2005. Over the coming year, the international ITER organisation will be established. Additionally, the six participating partners will form their own organisations to provide the ITER equipment. Europe's will be based in Barcelona, Spain.
How much will ITER cost?
ITER construction costs are estimated at €4.5billion (at 2000 prices), to be spread over about ten years. Estimated total operating costs over the expected operational lifetime of about twenty years are of a similar order.
How will ITER be financed?
The ITER project will be undertaken by the ITER organisation established by the ITER Agreement. The members of the organisation will bear the costs of ITER. With respect to the construction of the ITER device, most of the components will be contributed by the members in kind (ie the components themselves, rather than the financing for them). For the European Union, a new joint undertaking will be established in Spain, which will purchase components to be provided to the ITER organisation.
The EU and France will contribute 50% of the construction costs and the other five parties will each contribute 10%.
How will the EU benefit from hosting ITER?
By hosting ITER, the EU will maintain its position at the forefront of fusion research. The existence of such a high technology, cutting edge research facility in the EU will have considerable benefits for EU industry. In addition to the commercial benefits of winning ITER related business, working on fusion projects can have knock-on benefits to companies through improved business processes for quality and project management. Research conducted by CERN, another large international science project, indicates that companies benefit up to three times the value of the initial contract through business won from improved competitiveness.
What happens next?
Over the coming months the format for ITER organisations will be finalised. In December 2005, a meeting will be held in Barcelona at which European industry will be briefed on how the European ITER organisation will procure ITER components.
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