Fusion for Energy (F4E) and its contractor, French engineering firm Demathieu Bard, have completed the Main Control Room the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) under construction in France. Demathieu Bard designed and erected the facility, which has a 3,500 square metre footprint. After the structure was finished, the teams began installing services such as ventilation, electricity and fire protection, whilst ITER Organisation contractors set up all the computer hardware. In total, there are 80 cubicles containing electronic systems to process the massive volume of information.
Besides the main control room and server rooms, the Control Building has offices, a command post, a gallery for visitors and a dining room. Staff will enter it from the ITER headquarters (just outside the platform) via a footbridge. “Unlike the rest of industrial buildings, this one is made to host people during 24 hours, so we included many provisions for accessibility and ergonomics, such as noise reduction and natural indirect light,” explained Eric Brault, F4E’s Project Manager.
“We are proud to deliver another ITER building, especially one with such symbolic value, as the future centre of operations. We designed its layout and services to offer the best work experience. We then executed it meeting the complex requirements in a challenging schedule, thanks to the good planning and collaboration with F4E, as well as ITER Organisation and their suppliers,” said Sébastien Berne, Major Project Director of Demathieu Bard. The work took five years, requiring over 200,000 man-hours.
The control room is equipped with 30 workstations and the first workers have started moving in. In November, the various temporary control rooms, in charge of monitoring the plant systems under commissioning, will be relocated to the new building. When ITER is in full operation, it will host some 80 experts working in shifts around the clock. A screen wall will display everything happening inside and around the fusion device.
