ITER, the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor, reached a major milestone in its decades-long journey after a European consortium delivered the final vacuum vessel sector on site. The vacuum vessel is also known as the plasma chamber and will be home to fusion reactions while also acting as the first containment barrier for the reactor. 

In our bid to move away from fossil fuels, scientists are working to replicate the reactions that occur in stars and release large amounts of carbon-free energy in the process. Called nuclear fusion, the process is considered advantageous over its fission counterpart, since it does not generate large amounts of radioactive waste. 

However, nuclear fusion research is still in its infancy, and scientists are working to create reactions that can be sustained for long durations. ITER is the world’s largest nuclear fusion experiment that is working to sustain nuclear fusion reactions inside a tokamak, or donut-shaped, reactor vessel. 

A collaborative effort between 35 nations, the facility is being built at Saint-Paul-lès-Durance in southern France and reached a major milestone with the delivery of the ninth and final sector of its vacuum vessel or plasma chamber. 

The vacuum vessel is a key component of a tokamak fusion reactor. Made of stainless steel, the vessel provides a clean environment for fusion reactions. It provides a scaffold for superconducting magnets to be placed and to control the plasma movements. 

ITER’s design of the vacuum vessel consists of nine sectors which, when joined together, will boast an internal volume of 49,440 cubic feet (1,400 cubic meters).

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