Russia on Tuesday sent to France one of the six giant magnets planned to implement the Iter program on nuclear fusion, one of the major international scientific projects in which Moscow is still participating despite the sanctions. Under a gray autumn sky, the boat carrying the “poloidal field coil” manufactured in Russia under the direction of the atomic agency Rosatom, took off in Saint Petersburg (north-west).
The imposing magnet, nine meters in diameter and weighing 200 tons, was packed for the journey, which should last a fortnight and pass through Amsterdam to reach Marseille. This coil, in the shape of a ring, must form the upper part of the structure of the “tokamak”, this experimental machine under construction in the south of France which aims to control the production of energy from the fusion of hydrogen, as in the heart of the Sun.
“Without the PF1 coil, the tokamak cannot function,” summarized Leonid Khimtchenko, deputy director for technical issues at Center-Iter in Russia, who welcomes this “unique” achievement after more than eight years of work. Of the six coils planned before the first plasma production expected in 2026, four are made in Western Europe and another was built in China, under European responsibility. The imposing Russian piece was due to leave in May, but the bans on Russian boats from mooring in a European port, due to sanctions linked to its offensive in Ukraine, delayed its departure.
Russia “fulfills its obligations”
However, there is no question of Russia not “fulfilling its obligations” in this important international project, argued Viatcheslav Perchoukov, Rosatom’s special representative for international projects, according to whom “current events have hardly affected the progress of the project “. In the wake of its military intervention in Ukraine, Russia has however announced that it will withdraw “after 2024” from the International Space Station (ISS), another flagship project of scientific cooperation between Westerners and Russians. But at this stage, no similar decision has been taken for Iter.
“Everyone would be a loser” in the event of Russia’s withdrawal or exclusion, said Andrei Mednikov, in charge of the reel’s project management. “We are all one family. (…) There is no competition, nothing”, further supported Leonid Khimchenko, while Moscow and the Westerners, allies of kyiv, have been clashing around Ukraine since the end of February.
Alongside the EU, UK, Switzerland, USA, India, Japan, South Korea and China, Russia takes 9.1% of the plant production cost. The fruit of scientific cooperation between 35 countries, the idea for the Iter project was born following a summit between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.