ITER tries to get fusion energy to be a practical reality. Starting in 2015, Principia has participated in various projects for ITER primarily in the areas of numerical modelling and earthquake engineering. For example, Principia drafted the “Guidelines for Seismic Design, Analysis and Qualification of Complex Industrial and Nuclear Facilities against Seismic Hazard,” accounting for nuclear safety (design or beyond-design cases), French construction requirements, and investment protection policy.
We also reviewed the evaluation of a number of critical components and, when necessary, conducted independent verification analyses, all in the light of the Guidelines. The main activities in this context dealt with the gas helium tanks,the cradles of the cold box, the foundation design basis of Area 53, the Gan buffer tanks of the cryogenic plant, the armoured port cell doors of the tokamak building, the electron cyclotron power supply (ECPS) equipment, and the optimisation of different cable tray supports for the tokamak.
Principia has also reviewed the design and calculation documents issued by contractors and participated in the CASH international benchmark to evaluate the strength of reinforced concrete shear walls subjected to earthquakes beyond the design basis. And, very recently, we carried out the seismic qualification, based on the SL-1 earthquake, of cubicles housing high-reliability electronics at ITER.
