India-partnered ITER completes world's largest magnet system

Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France) April 30 (IANS) In a landmark achievement for fusion energy ITER, to which India is responsible for the delivery of cryostat, cooling water system and cryogenic system, has completed all components for the world’s largest, most powerful pulsed superconducting electromagnet system.

ITER is an international collaboration of more than 30 countries to demonstrate the viability of fusion, the power of the sun and stars, as an abundant, safe, carbon-free energy source for the planet. The final component was the sixth module of the Central Solenoid, built and tested in the US.

When it is assembled at the ITER site in Southern France, the Central Solenoid will be the system’s most powerful magnet, strong enough to lift an aircraft carrier, it was announced on Wednesday.

The Central Solenoid will work in tandem with six ring-shaped poloidal field (PF) magnets, built and delivered by Russia, Europe, and China.

The fully assembled pulsed magnet system will weigh nearly 3,000 tons. It will function as the electromagnetic heart of ITER’s doughnut-shaped reactor, called a Tokamak. How does this pulsed superconducting electromagnet system work? Step I. A few grams of hydrogen fuel, deuterium and tritium gas are injected into ITER’s gigantic Tokamak chamber. Step II. The pulsed magnet system sends an electrical current to ionise the hydrogen gas, creating a plasma, a cloud of charged particles. Step III. The magnets create an “invisible cage” that confines and shapes the ionised plasma. Step IV. External heating systems raise the plasma temperature to 150 million degrees Celsius, 10 times hotter than the core of the sun. And, Step V. At this temperature, the atomic nuclei of plasma particles combine and fuse, releasing massive heat energy.

At full operation, ITER is expected to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power from only 50 megawatts of input heating power, a tenfold gain. At this level of efficiency, the fusion reaction largely self-heats, becoming a “burning plasma”. By integrating all the systems needed for fusion at industrial scale, ITER is serving as a massive, complex research laboratory for its 30-plus member countries, providing the knowledge and data needed to optimise commercial fusion power.

ITER’s geopolitical achievement is also remarkable: the sustained collaboration of ITER’s seven members — China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the US. Thousands of scientists and engineers have contributed components from hundreds of factories on three continents to build a single machine.

Pietro Barabaschi, ITER Director-General, says, “What makes ITER unique is not only its technical complexity but the framework of international cooperation that has sustained it through changing political landscapes.” “This achievement proves that when humanity faces existential challenges like climate change and energy security, we can overcome national differences to advance solutions.” “The ITER Project is the embodiment of hope. With ITER, we show that a sustainable energy future and a peaceful path forward are possible.”

In 2024, ITER reached 100 per cent of its construction targets. With most of the major components delivered, the ITER Tokamak is now in assembly phase. In April 2025, the first vacuum vessel sector module was inserted into the Tokamak Pit, about three weeks ahead of schedule. The past five years have witnessed a surge in private sector investment in fusion energy R and D. In November 2023, the ITER Council recognised the value and opportunity represented by this trend. They encouraged the ITER Organisation and its domestic agencies to actively engage with the private sector, to transfer ITER’s accumulated knowledge to accelerate progress towards making fusion a reality.

In 2024, ITER launched a private sector fusion engagement project, with multiple channels for sharing knowledge, documentation, data, and expertise, as well as collaboration on R and D. This tech transfer initiative includes sharing information on ITER’s global fusion supply chain, another way to return value to member governments and their companies. In April 2025, ITER hosted a public-private workshop to collaborate on the best technological innovation to solve fusion’s remaining challenges.

Under the ITER Agreement, members contribute most of the cost of building ITER in the form of building and supplying components. This arrangement means that financing from each member goes primarily to their own companies to manufacture ITER’s challenging technology. In doing so, these companies also drive innovation and gain expertise, creating a global fusion supply chain. Europe, as the host member, contributes 45 per cent of the cost of the ITER Tokamak and its support systems. China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the US each contribute nine per cent, but all members get access to 100 per cent of the intellectual property.

–IANS

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