The global organisation ITER has chosen Intergraph’s products for the assembly, commissioning and construction of the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor.
ITER, a global organisation of the European Union, China, Russia, Japan, India, South Korea and the United States, is currently building the world’s largest and most advanced experimental nuclear fusion reactor in Cadarache, France.
The organisation has selected Intergraph’s SmartPlant® Enterprise suite of products to handle the assembly, commissioning and construction of the plant, as well as its operations and maintenance.
The agreement includes the implementation of SmartPlant Enterprise solutions such as SmartPlant Foundation, SmartPlant Construction, SmartPlant Materials and SmartPlant Enterprise for owner operators.
The construction of the site and buildings has already started, and the contributing countries are starting the manufacturing of the equipment, such as super-conducting conductors. During the plant design, construction and completion / start-up phase, SmartPlant Enterprise for owner operators will provide preconfigured processes to support engineering and project execution work processes, and SmartPlant Foundation will play a key role in data synchronisation and sharing.
The project will benefit the from synchronised information and centralised data that SmartPlant Enterprise offers to better manage work processes, control equipment and maintenance, coordinate contractors and manage change.
The organisation aims to build an efficient and safe plant that can provide energy to an increasingly demanding world.
The project will see the first equipment being delivered on site from 2014, starting with the Tokamak assembly in 2015. The construction is to be complete in 2019 and targeting first operation in 2020. Once this experimental reactor is complete, every contributing country will have the right to build fusion plants.
"Intergraph was chosen as the preferred supplier because of the combination of knowledge, people skills and tools it presented for this project," explains Ken Blackler, head of assembly and operations.
ITER will be the world’s first licensed nuclear fusion device, and Intergraph’s experience in the nuclear power generation sector (more than 20 years) played an important role in the final decision making.
Gerhard Sallinger, Intergraph Process, Power & Marine president, said, "ARC Advisory Group recently ranked Intergraph PP&M as the leading global engineering design provider to the electric power generation market. The ITER fusion reactor project is a major win for Intergraph in the power industry, and it will strengthen our already vigorous and enduring position in this sector globally. "