On April 5^th, a small celebration ceremony was held to celebrate the safe arrival of the third Vacuum Vessel sector which departed South Korea in January. It traveled 12,000km across both sea and land to finally arrive at the ITER site.

In the ceremony, researchers from the ITER KODA and the ITER IO gathered to celebrate. Staff from SHIN JO Logitech, which managed the delivery, and DAHER, which handles the global logistics of the ITER IO, attended as well.

Korea is in charge of procuring four sectors out of the nine that will comprise the ITER Vacuum Vessel. The second sector was delivered in 2021, following the first sector in 2020.

In January, when the third sector was manufactured and ready to ship to France, an unexpected typhoon in Korea suddenly hindered its departure. Severe winds and high tides at Mipo Port made it impossible to sail. Urgently, it was decided to move the sector and ship from Ulsan Port where it was relatively less stormy. After close cooperation with the ITER IO, it finally began its journey toward the ocean safely onboard a special ship.

During the gathering, the ITER KO-DA Director-General Dr. Kijung Jung expressed his gratitude for every effort that was made to safely deliver the third sector. He shared the details of the “fantastic emergency measures” taken to ship it despite the natural disaster.

Now, a total of three sectors have arrived from Korea. The first sector is almost ready for the ‘tokamak pit’. The sub-assembly process has already been finished, where external thermal shielding and two TF superconducting magnets were attached to it. The second sector is currently under sub-assembly, and the third will go through it soon. The final fourth sector will arrive in France within the second half of 2022.