İstanbul Gelisim Vocational School - myo@gelisim.edu.tr
Machinery
21 July 2023 Friday
The Big Problem for the Biggest Fusion Project
One of the largest and most famous experiments created by 35 countries in the south of France is a gigantic nuclear fusion machine called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
ITER is a machine that will break many records. It will contain a plasma 10 times hotter than the core of the sun. But the only record for ITER will not be scientific. Planned schedule shifts and set budget overruns are on the verge of being the most delayed and costly scientific experiment ever.
ITER is expected to make the biggest revolution in fusion ever. The machine, designed in the mid-1980s, will have hydrogen raised to very high temperatures, and due to this temperature, it will be in plasma form, not gas form. Of course, we are talking about a situation that is easy in rhetoric but very difficult in practice.
Initially the project had a financing need of 5 billion Euros. However, when it comes to today, the current estimated cost amount has reached 20 billion Euros. But the only problem is the incurring costs, but also the endless project time. There was talk of a delay of several years, but it seems that this does not reflect the truth.
Around this time last year, it was stated on the ITER website that there was a planned opening for December 2025. However, this period is no longer included on the site.
For the experiment, which was far behind the program, not only new materials were found, but also some parts of the machine were found to be faulty and they also need to be repaired.
However, delays or increased costs are very common in large projects. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), known to many, was planned to be completed in 10 years at a cost of $ 1 billion. However, it was 10 billion dollars and could only be completed in 20 years.
