HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has completed the assembly of the final vacuum vessel sector module for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), bringing the realization of future fusion energy one step closer.
On July 22, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries attended the 'KOREA-ITER Fusion Day' event held at the ITER construction site in Cadarache, southern France. The event was attended by over 150 participants, including officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, domestic companies, research institutions, and representatives from the ITER international organization. They shared updates on the progress of the ITER construction and discussed international cooperation in the field of fusion.
The event celebrated the assembly of the last vacuum vessel sector produced by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which has been combined with thermal shielding and superconducting magnets to form a sector module. This sector module has been moved to the tokamak pit for final assembly and will be combined with eight other sector modules to complete a donut-shaped vacuum vessel weighing approximately 5,000 tons.
ITER is an international project involving seven member countries, including South Korea, the European Union, the United States, Japan, China, Russia, and India, to construct the world's largest fusion experimental reactor in Cadarache, France.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has produced four out of the nine vacuum vessel sectors that make up ITER. After securing contracts for two sectors assigned to South Korea in 2010, the company won additional contracts for two sectors assigned to the European Union in 2016, with all units scheduled for delivery by 2024.
The vacuum vessel is a key component of ITER, maintaining a high vacuum environment around plasma heated to over 100 million degrees Celsius. Each vacuum vessel sector is a massive structure, measuring 11.3 meters in height, 6.6 meters in width, and weighing about 400 tons, requiring high precision for accurate assembly. It must also meet stringent quality and safety requirements set by French nuclear pressure vessel regulations, international nuclear technology standards, and the ITER organization.
Leveraging its expertise in shipbuilding and offshore plant construction, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries successfully completed the production of the vacuum vessel sectors and received an appreciation plaque at the event for its contributions.
In a speech representing participating companies, Won Kwang-sik, Vice President of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, stated, "The successful production and installation of the ITER vacuum vessel sectors demonstrate the technological competitiveness of South Korea's industrial sector and the fruits of international cooperation. We will continue to contribute to the realization of sustainable energy for future generations based on our accumulated technology and experience."
Additionally, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has been involved in establishing the domestic fusion research foundation by overseeing the main structural design of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR), which was completed in 2007, and producing key equipment such as large ultra-high vacuum vessels and cryogenic vessels.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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