The world's largest Erector set

31 Jul, 2014

Compared to the ��ƽ�� tokamak, a space shuttle, an aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine are all relatively simple objects: their technologies are well tested and their fabrication is practically industrialized

��ƽ�� Members are involved broadly in the in-kind procurement for ��ƽ��, sharing responsibility for the fabrication of components and systems. Participating in ��ƽ�� also means reinforcing the scientific, technological and industrial base in fusion back at home. (Note: not all components and contributions could be reproduced here.)

However ��ƽ�� is completely unique, and a large number of its constituent parts will be first-of-a-kind. Although other large tokamaks have been built around the world, not one of them resembles the tokamak that will be assembled in Saint Paul-lez-Durance, France in terms of scale and complexity.

Adding to the complexity of ��ƽ�� is a unique procurement program that divides the fabrication of the machine's components and systems among the seven ��ƽ�� Members (China, the 28 members of the European Union plus Switzerland, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States).

If the ��ƽ�� project was "only" about building and operating the largest tokamak in the world, things would be simpler. But ��ƽ�� is more than that. From the beginning, the project was designed with the idea that the Members, through their participation, would each advance their own scientific, technological and industrial base in fusion, and in this way prepare for the next-step machine, a demonstration fusion reactor (see "��ƽ�� ... and then what?" in ��ƽ�� Mag #3).

As a result, the ��ƽ�� Members are involved broadly in procuring components and systems (referred to as "in-kind" procurement). A few examples? The fabrication of the ��ƽ�� vacuum vessel sectors has been divided between Europe (7 sectors) and Korea (2 sectors); the central solenoid is a collaboration between the United States and Japan; divertor manufacturing and testing is divided between Europe, Russia and Japan; India and the United States are sharing responsibility for ��ƽ��'s cooling water systems; the blanket system will be produced by China, Europe, Korea, Russia and the United States; and finally, six ��ƽ�� Members (all except India) are involved with the production of ��ƽ�� magnets.

Finalized in early 2006, the distribution of in-kind fabrication tasks was based both on the interests and the technical and industrial capacities of each of the Members.

How much does ��ƽ�� cost? Whether you're manufacturing a T-shirt or an ��ƽ�� blanket module, fabrication costs vary widely from one country to the next.

In a similar manner, the evolution of Member currencies as well as labour and material costs over the ten years of ��ƽ�� construction can fluctuate dramatically. The ��ƽ�� Unit of Account (IUA) is an in-house currency that was created as part of the ��ƽ�� Agreement to provide a stable base over time and to equitably allocate the value of in-kind procurement to each Member. It's in IUA, or more exactly, thousands of IUA (kUIA), that the ��ƽ�� Organization assigns value to each one of the Procurement Arrangements signed with the Domestic Agencies.

Does that help us to know how much it will cost to build ��ƽ��? The European Union has estimated its global contribution to the costs of ��ƽ�� construction at EUR 6.6 billion. The value of other Member contributions depends on the cost of industrial fabrication at home, which can be higher or lower, and the percentage contribution to ��ƽ�� construction.

Based on the European evaluation, we can estimate the cost of ��ƽ�� construction for the seven Members at approximately EUR 13 billion (if all the manufacturing was done in Europe). This cost will be shared over ten years by the 35 countries that make up the ��ƽ�� Members (who, together, represent 80% of the planet's gross domestic product).

As one element of comparison, Qatar is investing EUR 150 billion in infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.

China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States have each agreed to cover 9.1% of ��ƽ�� construction (nine-tenths of this contribution will be supplied in kind to ��ƽ��, and only one-tenth in cash). Europe, host to the ��ƽ�� Project, participates at the level of 45%, including a share of ��ƽ�� components and systems as well as nearly all the buildings of the scientific facility. For its greater investment, Europe also reaps the lion's share of economic benefits (EUR 4 billion in contracts have been awarded for ��ƽ�� on European territory since 2007).

To manage all of these in-kind contributions, the ��ƽ�� Organization—which coordinates the project—has already signed nearly 100 Procurements Arrangements with the ��ƽ�� Domestic Agencies (one Domestic Agency has been established in each ��ƽ�� Member). These agencies, in turn, contract out to industry for the fabrication of the component according to the very specific conditions laid out in the Procurement Arrangement documents. Since the beginning of the process, more than 1,800 contracts for design or fabrication have been awarded by the ��ƽ�� Domestic Agencies.

In factories on three continents, the components and systems of the ��ƽ�� plant are now taking shape. Putting it all together will be like working on the largest Erector Set in the world, with at least one million components and more than 10 million individual parts.

Managing such a unique international procurement system may often be unwieldy and complex, but without it ��ƽ�� simply would not exist.

To conceive of the largest tokamak in the world ... to garner the support of international partners around a common project ... it was absolutely essential to go beyond traditional client-supplier relationship. A whole new form of partnership had to be invented: one that preserved the interests of both the Members and the project as a whole.

That's the challenge of ��ƽ��, but also its appeal: a project founded on the idea of large-scale scientific collaboration for the good of all.

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