Indian engineers to construct critical component for fusion reactor

New Delhi: Indian engineers will fabricate the world's largest high-vacuum, cold storage vessel, a critical component of an ambitious international project to generate energy through a similar process that powers the sun.

Called a cryostat, the vessel will house the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the largest and the most advanced facility of its kind being built in Cadarache, France.

Scientists and engineers at the Institute of Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar will manufacture this mammoth, 100 million euro cryostat in segments and then have it shipped to France for assembly at the site.

India is part of a seven nation consortium that is building the fusion reactor designed to produce 500 MW of output electricity with a power input of 50 MW.

ITER-India Project, a part of the IPR -- an autonomous unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, will make the 'in-kind' contributions that form India's share to the ITER project.

The procurement arrangement for the cryostat was signed recently by ITER-India.

"The cryostat is very crucial to the ITER experiment. It houses the fusion reactor in its entirety, including support to all internal systems," Shishir Deshpande, project director, ITER-India, said.