The construction of ITER, viewed from lessons learned from the KSTAR project

The construction of ITER is an extremely important project, not only within the fusion society but also for mankind: By solving critical energy and environmental problems, another major step in human history will be taken. Design, construction, and assembly of an ultra large scale machine such as ITER require thoroughly well defined plans, strategies, and predictions of potential problems and solutions. It is believed that preceding devices and projects may provide useful references for the several important considerations noted above. The KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research), a representative superconducting tokamak, has the most similar characteristics to the design concept of the ITER. Therefore, the lessons learned from KSTAR can be categorized according to the following engineering aspects: 1) policies to prioritize decisions, 2) catch-up plans for delayed schedules, 3) strategies in site assembly, 4) troubleshooting, 5) standard indexes or guides for tests and acceptance of individual systems and of site assemblies, and 6) interfaces that can be easily omitted in view of the system integration. This paper will summarize the lessons we have learned from the KSTAR project, focusing on engineering related points that can be considered to suggest guidelines for the ITER construction.