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FR
Equiping sector modules

The stage is set

6 Oct 2025

Once a sector module is positioned inside the tokamak assembly pit, a lot of work remains to be done before it can be welded to its neighbours and form the toroidal volume where fusion reactions will be produced.

Diagnostics systems will be connected to the plasma chamber by way of small “bosses” welded to the interior surface of the sector module. The large recesses protected by yellow plastic caps are for attaching the blanket modules.

One of the first activities, set to begin in the coming weeks on the sector modules that have already been installed—modules #6 and #7—consists of welding the in-vessel attachments, called “bosses,” that will host diagnostic system connections, cable looms and sensors.

To that end, a set of four platforms has been installed inside of the 15-metre-tall modules. This “in-vessel staging” will provide manual access to all areas of the vacuum vessel inner wall. Some 1,200 bosses need to be welded to the interior surface of each module.

The “in-vessel staging” is clearly visible in this image. The four platforms, including one at the lower, divertor level, will provide a safe working space from which all areas of the vacuum vessel inner wall are accessible.

The platforms will also be used to finalize the connection between the thermal shield panels of the two sector modules which, for the moment, are not yet in contact. The connection, both mechanical and thermal, will be achieved by way of splice plates bolted onto the edge of the panels. Connecting two sets of sector module panels requires 124 splice plates, each between 10 and 15 centimetres wide.

Principal pit construction manager Mathieu Demeyere lifts the plastic cover that protects the interface between the thermal shield panels of the two sector modules. The splice plates will fit onto the protruding bolts visible at the centre of the image.

Welding the bosses and bolting the thermal shield panels will progress in parallel on the four “floors” of the in-vessel staging. 

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