MHI awarded contract for additional ITER divertor components
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has received a new contract from Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) to manufacture 20 outer vertical targets for the ITER fusion reactor. This brings MHI's total responsibility to 38 of the 58 required components.
Tokyo – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has been awarded a contract by Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) to manufacture 20 outer vertical targets, a critical component of divertors for the ITER experimental fusion reactor under construction in southern France. This latest order increases MHI's total production responsibility to 38 units, a significant portion of the 58 divertors planned for ITER.
Divertors are essential components within the reactor's tokamak chamber, playing a key role in stabilizing plasma confinement by expelling unburned fuel elements and impurities generated during fusion reactions. The outer vertical targets face the plasma directly and must withstand extreme thermal loads, reaching up to 20 MW/m², an intensity roughly 30 times that experienced by the space shuttle during atmospheric re-entry.
MHI's selection for this additional order is attributed to its advanced manufacturing and mass production technologies, cultivated through prototype development and ongoing production of current units. The company has previously secured orders for 18 similar components and has also supplied other crucial parts for ITER, such as toroidal field coils.
Japan is responsible for manufacturing all 58 outer vertical targets required for ITER. MHI's expanded role underscores its commitment to advancing the development of fusion energy. The ITER project itself is an international collaboration aimed at demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy.