EURATOM FUSION TRAINING SCHEME: Engineers for ITER heating and diagnostic systems

The success of ITER (www.iter.org) depends on generating and optimising hot plasmas. UKAEA is involved in the design of specialist plasma heating and measurement systems (diagnostics) for ITER. These systems will be challenging, especially from the engineering perspective, as highly reliable components need to be made to high precision, and then operate in a hostile environment with strong thermal cycling.

In order to reinforce the engineering capabilities needed for ITER construction, EURATOM has implemented a Euratom Fusion Training Scheme (EFTS), especially covering areas that are critical for the construction of ITER components. Among these challenging topics are the radio frequency (RF) heating system and optical diagnostics. For these topics, two European consortia of fusion laboratories have been formed to organise the training, each aiming to produce a cadre of outstanding and expert engineers.

EnTicE: European Network for Training ion cyclotron Engineers is a consortium of seven European fusion laboratories (including UKAEA) and one industrial partner, led by the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik at Garching, near Munich. The consortium will recruit up to 6 young engineers. It will focus on the design of the RF launcher for ITER, a very compact, high power density tuneable antenna structure to be installed in a port on ITER. A fully integrated design is required, combining: start-of-the art high power RF components; challenging mechanical engineering design; use of novel materials and high-vacuum components; and development of fabrication techniques.

EODI (www.eodi.eu): Engineering of Optical Diagnostics for ITER is a consortium of seven European fusion laboratories (including UKAEA), lead by Forschungzentrum Jülich. It will recruit up to 8 young engineers. It will focus on the design, construction and testing of optical diagnostics for ITER from the infra-red to the ultraviolet, including imaging systems, charge exchange spectroscopy and laser diagnostics (the latter two are of special interest at Culham). Precision optical components need to be mounted in massive mechanical structures that undergo extensive thermal and mechanical cycling.

Type of work and training

The list of training topics includes general issues such as mechanical design techniques, optical design, thermo-hydraulics, precision manufacturing techniques, welding, machining, CAD, analytical and FE calculations, and neutronics, as well as wider skills such as project and procurement management and the science of fusion. Where possible this training will be practical on-the-job – designing, building, testing equipment at Culham and other sites. Systems must be compatible with the ITER requirements for radiation tolerance and ultra-high vacuum, along with the demands for precise and robust mechanical alignment of large structures under varying electro-magnetic, thermal and hydraulic loads. There are analogies with space instruments: once installed little direct user intervention will be possible, and remote handling techniques will be essential for any permitted maintenance operations.

Subsequent to the training based on a two- or three-year fixed-term contract, job opportunities both in the ITER team and in the local research and development teams of the consortia are envisaged.

The UKAEA positions within these consortia are advertised at (http://www.ukaea.org.uk/about/jobs/job-2oct06.html), and the positions at the other members of the consortia can be accessed via the consortia websites.

There are likely to be further such training consortia for other ITER systems in the future.