Energy: Italian fusion project DTT scores 85 million contracts and 6 new partners
15/4/2021
INFN, PoliTO, RFX and the Universities of Tuscia, Bicocca and Tor Vergata join in with ENEA, Eni and Consortium CREATE
The tenders to implement the Italian fusion project Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT), promoted by ENEA, Eni and the Consortium CREATE, have exceeded 85 million euro and in recent months further six shareholders - the INFN, Consortium RFX, Polytechnic University of Turin, Tuscia University, University of Milan-Bicocca and Rome Tor Vergata University, soon to be joined by the CNR- have joined DTT Scarl, the company that will build this unique experimental facility.
The total investment is worth over 600 million euro, of which 250 from an EIB (European Investment Bank) loan, which included it among its Strategic Projects due to an estimated impact factor of 4, over 2 billion euro and approximately 1,500 new jobs.
The new institutions involved subscribed approximately 4% of the share capital sold by ENEA and divided as follows: INFN 1%, Consortium RFX 0.5%, Polytechnic University of Turin 0.5% , Tuscia University 0.5%, University of Rome Tor Vergata 0.5%, University of Milan-Bicocca 0.5%, while the CNR will join with 0.5%. ENEA's share is 70%, Eni 25% and Consortium CREATE 1%.
The latest contract, awarded following an international tender, is worth 33 million euro and concerns the supply of 18 powerful superconducting magnets by the Italian ASG Superconductors (Malacalza), which was awarded similar contracts also for the international fusion project ITER. The other tenders launched to date, concerning the supply of high-tech superconducting materials, were awarded to the Korean Kiswire Advanced Technology for over 32 million euro, the American Luvata Waterbury for a total of 16 million euro and the Japanese Furukawa Electric Co for 4 million euro.
This year, new tenders will be launched for the main components and site adaptation works at the ENEA Frascati Research Center, where one of the most advanced scientific-technological centers at international level will be set up, accessible to researchers and scientists from all over the world.
The DTT facility was established as a connecting 'link' between the major international nuclear fusion projects ITER and DEMO (the reactor expected to generate electricity from nuclear fusion after 2050) and to provide scientific and technological answers to crucial issues like the management of great power flows produced by plasma.
The DTT will be a 10 meter high-tech cylinder with a radius of 5 meters, inside which 33 cubic meters of plasma at a temperature of 100 million degree will be confined with a 6 milliampere power intensity (equal to six million lamps) and a thermal load on materials up to 20 million Watt per square meter (over twice the power of a rocket taking off).
The over 40 km of superconducting cables, just a few centimeters away, will operate at 269 ° C below zero.
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