South Korea Powers Fusion Progress With ITER’s Vacuum Vessel

South Korea has fulfilled its commitment to the ITER project by delivering all four vacuum vessel sectors required for sustaining nuclear fusion reactions.

These deliveries are part of a larger contribution that includes superconductors and thermal shields, highlighting South Korea’s pivotal role in advancing fusion technology.

Global Collaboration in Fusion Technology

South Korea has successfully delivered its share of ITER vacuum vessel sectors to the construction site in Cadarache, France. Tasked with producing 4 of the 9 total sectors, South Korea began its deliveries in 2020 and has now completed all four, fulfilling its commitment to this monumental international collaboration.

Key Component: The ITER Vacuum Vessel

The ITER vacuum vessel plays a critical role in enabling nuclear fusion reactions by maintaining a high-vacuum environment to contain ultra-high-temperature plasma. This massive structure, weighing 5,000 tons, is made up of 9 sectors and features 44 ports.

Each vacuum vessel sector is manufactured in four segments, requiring over 1.6 kilometers of welding for assembly. Maintaining precise tolerances of less than a few millimeters ensures the seamless integration of internal components, which demands advanced forming and welding technologies. These challenges make the vacuum vessel one of the most technically complex components in the ITER project.

Initially, South Korea was tasked with producing two vacuum vessel sectors under its agreement with the ITER Organization. However, in 2016, an additional agreement was made to produce two more sectors originally assigned to the EU, bringing South Korea’s total responsibility to four sectors.

Additional Contributions From South Korea

Korea has also delivered superconductors, thermal shields, and assembly tools to ITER on schedule, steadily contributing to the development of fusion reactor technologies and supporting efforts toward the realization of fusion energy.