The heavy engineering arm of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) said on Tuesday its 1,250 tonne cryostat base -- the single largest section of the world's largest nuclear fusion reactor -- was successfully lifted and placed into a reactor building in France recently, accomplishing a major milestone in the nuclear engineering world.
The tools of cryostat were delivered during the Covid-19 lockdown to ensure uninterrupted assembly.
A cryostat forms a vacuum-tight container surrounding the reactor vacuum vessel and superconducting magnets, and acts essentially as a very large refrigerator.
The reactor base -- the single largest and heaviest Tokamak component of the world's largest stainless-steel, high-vacuum pressure chamber cryostat -- will eventually contain the rest of reactor.
India is among the seven elite countries funding the 20 billion dollar International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) programme at Cadarache in France. This is one of the world's largest research project that seeks to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power.
"This installation into the ITER Tokamak building is a significant activity for other downstream activities to achieve the mission for a first plasma as soon as possible by the end of 2025," said ITER Director General Bernard Bigot.
L&T had delivered the lower cylinder of cryostat in March 2019 and upper cylinder in March this year. The top lid sectors will be dispatched from Hazira in July.
l V Parab, Executive Vice-President and Head of L&T Heavy Engineering, said ITER is a first of its kind futuristic global project. "Successful delivery of such complex projects is ingrained in L&T's culture. The cryostat is the largest vacuum vessel ever built with 29.4 metres in diameter, 29 metres in height weighing 3,850 tonnes."
L&T's Heavy Engineering business won the prestigious contract in 2012. ITER India, a wing of the Department of Atomic Energy, is the overall in-charge of the Indian participation for this ambitious mega scientific project.
( With inputs from ANI )