A unique global partnership
is currently being
created at the Cadarache
nuclear research
centre in the south of France. The
ITER Tokamak Cryostat is being
constructed there, the world‘s
largest experimental facility for
fusion energy. The objective of
fusion research is to prove the
scientific and technological
feasibility of fusion energy and
thereby to harness a secure,
unlimited and environmentally
friendly source of energy. This
is intended to generate a fusion
output of 500 megawatts over
a period of 7 minutes. It uses
the same principle as that used
by the sun: light atomic nuclei
are fused into heavy ones,
releasing immense quantities
of energy in the process. The
ITER (International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor) is
a nuclear fusion reactor based
on the Tokamak principle. In
this process a deuterium-tritium
plasma is kept in a toroidal form
at approximately 150 million
degrees Celsius using a magnetic
field. Above a specific temperature
and particle density, a
controlled nuclear fusion should
then occur in a chain reaction;
the energy gain from this should
exceed the energy consumption
by a factor of 10 to enable an
economical net gain in energy.
It is a long way before this objective
can be attained, however,
because the assembly and installation
of the Tokamak reactor
and the Tokamak cargo lift,
amongst other things, represent
a complex task. For this reason,
Fusion for Energy (F4E), the
organisation that manages Europe‘
s contribution to the ITER
Project, has engaged a specialist
for the construction of the
massive cranes required. The
NKMNOELL-REEL consortium,
consisting of NKMNoell Special
Cranes GmbH (Germany) and
REEL S.A.S. (France), has been
appointed to design 4 electric
travelling cranes which will move
to and fro between the main
buildings of the ITER Project.
The ITER components will be
assembled in the 60 m high
assembly hall and then transported
into the Tokamak building
on the travelling cranes.
Large components weighing
up to 1500 tonnes will be
transported within the tandem
hub by the two 750 t cranes,
each of which will be equipped
with two trolleys and a 375 t
hoist. This will place maximum
demands on each individual crane component. For this reason it has been
decided at NKMNOELL-REEL not to make any
compromises in the choice of ropes and to
purchase CASAR specialist wire ropes via the
French dealer Corderie Dor. These consist of a
total of almost 3500 m of galvanised CASAR
Paraplast Ø 36 mm for the two 750 t cranes.
CASAR Paraplast is distinguished by its high
breaking force, but also its durability and
flexibility. The compacted outer strands give
the rope a very even surface, and the plasticcovered
steel core stabilises the rope structure.