The signature of the contract is a significant step for the ITER project and an impressive technological milestone given the fact that winding packs of this size have never been manufactured before. The ITER device (see  above) will operate with a system of superconducting magnets, which relies on the Toroidal Field Coils, the Central Solenoid, the Poloidal Field Coils and the Correction Coils .

Toroidal Field coils are “D” shaped coils whose core task in the ITER device is the confinement of plasma. They are composed of a winding pack and a stainless steel coil case. Each winding pack is 14 metres high, 1 metre wide and 9 metres long. The weight of a winding pack is approximately 110 tones, comparable to a Boeing 747.

Every winding pack (right) consists of a set of 7 double pancakes, stacked together and electrically connected in a series for an operating current of 68,000 Amps. Each double pancake is made of one radial plate, a D-shaped special grade stainless steel plate in which the conductor is embedded.

The TF coils will be manufactured with a technique where the conductor will be first wound, subsequently heat treated at 650°C and finally transferred into the grooves of the radial plates. In order to be able to fit the conductor in the radial plate grooves, the conductor will have to be wound with a precision of few tenths of a milimetre over several meters, considered one of the most critical steps in the production of the double pancakes modules.

Europe is the only ITER party that has manufactured a superconducting magnet using this technology, with a magnet three times smaller than the actual ITER TF coil. Scaling up this technology is not only a major challenge to ensure performance but also a breakthrough for fusion.

The contract for the winding packs is phased in three stages. First, a full size prototype of the double pancakes module, the most complex component of the winding packs, will be manufactured. Upon successful completion of that prototype, the first winding pack will be manufactured and finally, the remaining nine winding packs will be manufactured.