Fused Silica Components for ITER Windows Qualification Programme

Tender description

3.1. The ITER fusion reactor is a prototype nuclear fusion reactor being developed at Cadarache, in the south of France. UKAEA is supporting this endeavour as the design and operational authority running the Joint European Torus (JET), ITER’s predecessor situated at Culham, in the UK. Through JET, UKAEA has developed key capabilities that have been deployed to design, manufacture qualify, and supply high-specification windows for ITER’s containment structure. 3.2. The fused silica windows required by ITER must be qualified to work under the nuclear codes defined by the ITER Organisation (IO). In order to do this, a programme of qualification has been devised to test the raw fused silica material, the material coated with an anti-reflective substance, and the final window assemblies in succession, thereby demonstrating that the materials and design of the windows are compliant with the nuclear codes (RCC-MR 2007) specified by IO and suitable for ITER operations. 3.3. This document serves as the requirements specification for the procurement of the raw fused silica for this qualification campaign. It includes all material specimens required for each phase of the campaign, and specifies in detail the material grades, dimensions, tolerances, acceptable inclusions, performance characteristics, and quantities for each batch of parts. 3.4. All parts described by this document are for the qualification campaign only. If the qualification campaign is successful, a follow-on procurement activity will be launched to acquire fused silica for the production of the ITER windows themselves.