Opportunities for U.S. Industry in the ITER project

Abstract

The author discusses the role of industry in the ITER project. In particular, emphasis is placed on preparing US industry to play a role in this program, and to prepare it to bid on construction contracts for either ITER systems, or parts of other development efforts which result from the engineering design study phase of the ITER project which is just about to commence. Fusion is on the verge of moving from the research lab into the commercial sector, and US business has to be brought into the project now in order to be prepared to bid on eventual construction projects. The objective is to involve industry in the design of the ITER reactor. The opportunity for industry to participate in identifying the requirements of the site for the ITER facility exists. In the area of technology development, industry must have a leading role in the design, construction, and testing of hardware prototypes. The objective is to prepare US industry to bid successfully on the construction of ITER or any other large fusion facilities to be built anywhere in the world.