Critical parts are packaged in Zhangjiagang City, east China's Jiangsu Province, for assembly in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an international nuclear fusion project in France, Jan. 28, 2018. (Photo/China News Service)
Chinese companies shipped four critical parts to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an international nuclear fusion project in France, the equipment builders have said.
Four vapor suppression tanks (VSTs) were loaded onto a tanker in Zhangjiagang City in east China's Jiangsu Province on Sunday, said Suzhou Thvow Technology, one of the builders.
"The parts will be shipped for assembly in the reactor in France," said Tian Rui, chief of nuclear power section in the company, which jointly developed the parts with China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). "The four tanks can cool down the main equipment and maintain safety of the main equipment if anything dangerous occurs."
Costing around 15 billion euros, ITER is the largest international scientific cooperation project in the world. It is exploring commercial uses of fusion power.
The project is jointly funded by China, the EU, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States.
China has invested 4 billion yuan (about 600 million U.S. dollars) in the ITER project in the past 10 years, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.
According to the ITER plan, the construction of the "artificial sun" will be completed by 2025, and commercial uses of fusion power are expected to be available around 2050.
