30.06.2008 // RIA Novosti

Russian enjoys technical advantages under International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project

Russian has technical advantages under International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, ITER superconductivity section executive Arnaud Devred said after visiting Chepetsk Mechanical Plant, one of the world’s top three zirconium producers, on June 24–25 2008.

Devred said that it was a very important and positive fact that a plant producing materials for ITER was upgrading its capacities by purchasing new equipment.

He said that, usually, companies bought used equipment for modernization, but Russian companies preferred buying new one, which gave Russia a big advantage under the ITER project.  

Devred said that the visit to CMZ (part of TVEL Corporation) had shown that Russia was able to fully meet its obligations under the project.

The head of ITER Russia agency Anatoly Krasilnikov said that Russia was supposed to produce Nb3Sn superconducting cable for the toroidal field coils and NbTi superconducting cable for the poloidal field coils.

The contract for the supply of Nb3Sn has already been signed. The terms of the NbTi contract are being negotiated (quality, parameters, delivery schedule). Derved said that the next Friday they were planning to meet to discuss the terms of the contract.

He said that Nb3Sn was being made by six of the seven partners, NbTi – by three partners.

Now that all the partners have decided to optimize the cost of the project and to take all necessary measures to reduce the price, the ITER Organization has requested all the national agencies to carry out relevant analyses and to integrate their packages, Devred said.

The ITER agreements were signed in Paris in Nov 2006 following talks among the EU, India, China, South Korea, Russia, the US and Japan.

ITER will be built in Cadarache (Southern France). The construction will last for 10 years. The reactor will serve for 20 years. The estimated cost of the project is $10bln, with the EU to pay 40% and the rest — 60% (10% each).

Unlike modern reactors, which are based on nuclear decay, ITER is based on thermonuclear fusion. In fact, it is an attempt to repeat – in laboratories and, later, in production — a process taking place on the Sun: nuclear fusion of hydrogen isotopes – deuterium and tritium – which produces neutral helium and a big amount of energy: 1 gram of deuterium-tritium can produce as much energy as 8 tons of oil.