 "Bengaluru firm builds key component for ITER project")
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a multi-country collaborative undertaking, which aims to achieve the first self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction in the world, counts India as one of its partners. The country contributes roughly nine percent of the overall project in cash, components and research.
"The vacuum vessel sectors themselves are being manufactured by Europe and S Korea and some of the In-Wall Shielding component shipments from Avasarala Technologies have already reached the vessel manufacturer sites," said T T Mani, MD and CEO of Avasarala Technologies, in a press release.
The Rs 8,750 crore undertaking by India has been taken up by the Department of Atomic Energy's Institute of Plasma Research which has commissioned Indian firms such as Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Avasarala to build the required components. L&T's heavy engineering arm is India's largest contractor, and is building nearly 25% of the country's component quota.
ITER, which is expected to begin nuclear fusion experimentation in 2025, is looking to produce 500 Megawatt (MW) of power with an input of roughly 50 MW of power. Today the largest energy output produced by a nuclear fusion reaction stands at 17 MW.
Nuclear fusion is pitted to be a clean, cheap and uninterrupted source of power generation of the future. By participating and contributing roughly 9% to the multi-billion project, India will receive 100% of the intellectual property that goes into building such reactors. Moreover, by involving Indian industry in the manufacturing of the experimental reaction, there is also an abundance of learning which the country is gaining.
