India added yet another feather to its cap of successful fabrication and delivery to ITER IO France, when the lower cylinder, the 2nd of the 4 sections of the cryostat, was lowered onto the base section of the cryostat. It may be noted that the base section was handed over by India to ITER organization in July, 2019 and lowered and installed into the tokamak pit in May 2020. The lower cylinder, weighing ~400 tonnes was handed over to IO in March 2019. Since then it had been cocooned and stored for 18 months. The cylinder was lifted by 1500 ton overhead cranes and precise tactical movements were performed to ensure its lowering, installation and positioning on the cryostat base section within the acceptable tolerances. Manufacturing the Base and Lower Cylinder sections, both 30m diameter, to meet the tolerance of 5mm in vertical direction and in the X-Y directions the off-set are also well within the acceptable tolerance which is a feat in itself. This event once again demonstrates Indian commitment to the ITER program and the engineering capabilities of the engineers from M/s L&T Hazira and the scientists and engineers of ITER-India and ITER IO.
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