The ninth and final vacuum vessel segment for the ITER fusion machine-vacuum vessel sector #2-has been delivered to the ITER Organization's site at Cadarache, in southern France. With this delivery, all major components are now on-site for the construction of the "core machine" of the international project-including the vacuum vessel, superconducting magnets, and cryostat.

Collaboration: The final vacuum vessel segment was manufactured by a team including Fusion for Energy (F4E), Westinghouse Electric Company, Ansaldo Nucleare, and Walter Tosto. A Westinghouse factory in Monfalcone, Italy, was the manufacturing location. The French industrial conglomerate Daher transported the component to the Cadarache site.

Of the nine vacuum vessel segments, five were manufactured in Europe and four in South Korea. After all components are joined together, the assembled vacuum vessel will be 19.4 meters in diameter and 11.4 meters high, and it will weigh about 5,200 metric tons.

Six years of assembly: The delivery of the last vacuum vessel component came six years after assembly of the ITER machine began with the cryostat base being lowered into place inside the tokamak pit. The importance of the vacuum vessel sector delivery was remarked upon by ITER Director General Pietro Barabaschi, who said, "Thanks to the effort that was made by our colleagues in the European Domestic Agency, Fusion for Energy, to complete this procurement program, the delivery of the last vacuum vessel sector will allow us to pursue machine assembly activities according to schedule."

He added, "Vacuum vessel sector #2 represents the last of our core tokamak components-now all toroidal field coils, poloidal field coils, correction coils, central solenoid magnets, vacuum vessel sectors, and thermal shield sets are on site."

The finish line: F4E Director Marc Lachaise praised "the strong partnership between F4E, the consortium of Ansaldo Nucleare, Westinghouse, and Walter Tosto," saying, "Our commitment to deliver and the resilience of our teams have brought us to the finish line. . . . Thanks to the EU's involvement in ITER, F4E, together with the companies, is shaping the potential of fusion energy."

Remaining work: The ITER Organization reported in early September that it had achieved a "summer of substantial progress" in regard to multiple assembly and installation activities. However, much work remains, including delivery of in-vessel components, plant systems, and other equipment, as well as assembling the components to create the completed machine.

The current goals of the ITER Organization are to begin research operations in 2034, achieve full magnetic energy in 2036, and start deuterium-tritium operations in 2039.