Operation Under Extreme Conditions at the ITER Project

Another particularly demanding application area for our control boxes, with requirements far beyond conventional plant engineering, is found in the ITER project – the world’s largest research project for controlled nuclear fusion. In an international consortium of 35 nations, the largest fusion reactor currently in the world is being built near Marseille. The goal is to generate energy by fusing hydrogen isotopes – a process considered an almost inexhaustible and clean energy source. The extremely low radioactivity produced is expected to decay completely within a year.

Our control box is a central component of the cryopump, which has a diameter of nearly one meter. It ensures the necessary ultra-high vacuum inside the reactor – under conditions where plasma temperatures can reach up to 150 million degrees Celsius. The control system enables the precise, highly dynamic opening and closing of the pump valve, ensuring submillimeter positioning accuracy.

The extreme requirements for the system include resistance to vibration, high temperatures, seismic stability, and electromagnetic immunity. In addition, magnetic fields of up to 0.5 Tesla in the so-called port cells significantly restrict material selection and required special design measures.

Through close collaboration with the participating research institutes and engineering offices, all technical challenges were successfully overcome – a testament to the performance of our components even under the most demanding conditions encountered in modern science.