Despite the pandemic, after almost a month of travel, the first of the ten gigantic superconducting magnets destined for Iter (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), arrived at its destination in France, at the Cadarache site, the project for over 20 billion euros for production of nuclear fusion energy. D-shaped, 17 meters high and 9 meters wide, it is the largest super coil ever produced in Europe. The contribution of the Italian industry is important, with Asg Superconductors, Simic and the Icas consortium, together with Enea.
In total, there will be eighteen magnets: nine (plus one spare) made in Europe and nine in Japan. They will serve to create the magnetic field to trap ionized gas, plasma, at a temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius, necessary to replicate on Earth the nuclear fusion process that keeps the Sun and other stars on.
For Sergio Orlandi, the Italian engineer who directs the construction of the Iter plant, “the arrival of the magnet is a great satisfaction and a very positive sign for the Italian project and industrial system. Despite the very difficult situation, in fact, the Iter construction site has never stopped and the staff has even been increased ".
The transport of the supermagnete took almost a month of travel by sea and road, from the port of Marghera, in Venice, to the French site of Iter, and was managed by the Cuneo-based company, Simic. To preserve and protect it during the journey, the D-shaped supermagnete was packed with a 100-ton structure, which brought the total weight of the load to 420 tons.
The supermagnete was born in Italy, in the La Spezia plant of the Asg Superconductors, by order of the European consortium Fusion for Energy (F4E), the EU agency that manages the European contribution to the Iter project for contracts and orders. Italians are also the five kilometers of superconducting magnet cables, designed and manufactured by the Icas consortium, which combines Enea with two leading companies in the sector, Criotec impianti and Tratos cables.
"We have won a 50 million euro international call for Fusion for Energy, and recently also a 5 million euro order with CERN", explains Antonio della Corte, president of the Icas consortium and Enea manager of the superconductivity section.
The Iter project combines Europe, Japan, the United States, Russia, China, India and South Korea. Once completed, the experiment will have to produce 500 MW of nuclear fusion energy for about seven minutes. Europe will contribute 45% to the construction costs, the rest will be divided equally between the other six states.
