ITER project progress report

Land clearance work at the Cadarache site was completed at the end of 2007, and the 40-hectare (≈ 98-acre) site for the ITER facility can now be clearly seen. This area is currently accessed via a small forest road, which will soon be security-patrolled. Work on the support infrastructure has now begun. The company Cari BTP is building the site access roundabout, and is also managing the work to set up the site utilities (water supply and piping systems) at a cost of € 4.5M. Other contractors will be involved in developing other utilities, such as the electrical power supply and the rainwater drainage systems.

Earthworks will start on the area that will become the reactor platform at the start of February. This stage involves moving more than 2.3 million cubic metres of material, at a cost of € 15 M, funded by France (15% ) and the European Union (85%). The ITER France Agency, which is the Commissioning Body, will finalise the construction tenders for the main office buildings (€ 40 M) and the initial structures for the ITER reactor platform (€ 15 to 20 M).

ITER Head Offices
The main offices of the ITER Organisation be built in a 10-hectare (≈ 25 acre) wooded area facing the reactor complex. The selected design is by architect Rudy Ricciotti, who will work in partnership with Laurent Bonhomme. Initial work should get underway by the end of 2008 to build six buildings to house around a thousand researchers and administrative staff. The main building will be 325 metres long, as part of a complex comprising offices, a 500-seater lecture theatre and a Welcome Centre for the public. There will also be a medical centre, a site restaurant and a security checkpoint at the site entrance. The site should be ready to operate by the summer of 2010.


Key facts:

Commissioning Body: ITER France Agency

Floor area: 28,500 sq m (≈ 306,000 sq ft)

Cost of work: € 40 M funded 50-50 by the French government and the European Union.

International School
Rudy Ricciotti has also been commissioned as architect for the International School in Manosque, working in partnership with architect Jean-Michel Battesti and the building company Léon Grosse. The total cost of this project is estimated at € 55M, including € 37.5 M for the construction work





ITER road corridor

Work on the ITER road corridor is also due to start in 2008, funded by a nearly € 80 M investment from the Regional Council. The 100 km (≈ 60 mile) route runs from Berre l’Etang to Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, crossing 16 different districts. This specially-designed road corridor will be used by 200 extra-large convoys, mainly at night-time, with approximately one convoy travelling every 10 days between 2010 and 2015. The work involves adapting the existing infrastructures, reinforcing or replacing 25 bridges, redesigning crossroads (by adding around twenty new roundabouts), moving gas, electricity and railway structures, raising the height of pylons and widening the roads. A consortium formed by the companies Scétauroute and Beterem Infrastructure will head up the project, overseen by the regional ITER support board. Around twenty different contractors will work on the project, most of whom are based in the region.


Key facts:

Total project cost: € 91 M

The state has invested € 18 M

The Bouches-du-Rhône département is funding € 72 M .

Reactor

The ITER reactor construction work will start at the end of 2009. The various components will be transported on specially-designed, extra-large trucks, 40 metres long, with a 600-tonne capacity.
The reinforced-concrete reactor building, the building in which the superconducting coils (26m diameter) will be put together and the tokamak assembly hall will be the first to be built. Reactor commissioning is planned for 2016.


Economic benefits

At its most recent steering committee meeting on 13 December 2007, the regional prefecture unveiled its initial estimates as to the economic impact of the various infrastructure projects related to ITER. The total figure is € 141.3 M, comprising € 89.9 M for the road corridor, € 50.6 M for work on the ITER site and € 0.8 M for the International School in Manosque. 77 % of contracts will benefit local companies in the PACA region. This amount breaks down as follows: Alpes de Haute Provence département: € 5 M (4 %) Alpes Maritimes département: € 8.8 M (6 %)Bouches-du-Rhône département: € 58 M (45 %)Var département: € 10.3 M (7 %)Vaucluse département: € 21.3 M (15 %)Outside PACA region: € 37,8 M (23 %)


Download the file below to view the presentation made by the Funding Committee during the steering committee meeting held on Thursday 13 December 2007.