L&T locks key contract for world's largest nuclear fusion project in France

While the exact worth of the deal was not disclosed but the order was marked as 'significant', which the L&T uses to describe orders valued between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Friday announced that it has secured a contract to deploy advanced welding technologies for the ITER Organisation's nuclear fusion project, the largest of its kind in the world. The project is located at Cadarache in Southern France.

 

The exact worth of the deal was not disclosed but the order was marked as ‘significant’, which the L&T uses to describe orders valued between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore. L&T will be engaged in the deployment of critical advanced technologies for the assembly of ports and complex parts with the vacuum vessel at the site.

 

"L&T has won a new order from the France-headquartered intergovernmental body the ITER Organisation for the deployment of critical advanced technologies for assembly of ports and complex parts with the vacuum vessel at the world's largest nuclear fusion project at Cadarache in Southern France," L&T said in an exchange filing.

What is the ITER Organisation?

ITER (formerly International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is an international, large-scale scientific collaboration focused on developing fusion as a viable energy source. The collaboration includes collaboration from over 35 countries to build the world's largest Tokamak, a magnetic fusion device, ITER’s website says. Fusion energy is a carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers the Sun and stars. 

 

L&T will collaborate with ITER on technical aspects of the project, developing technology for the hardware and assembly of fusion-relevant systems within the vacuum vessel of the ITER Tokamak.

 

ITER Organization has seven key members including India. China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States are other members of the body. The main focus of ITE is the investigation of burning plasma - a plasma in which the energy from fusion reactions maintains its temperature without external heating. This makes fusion a more efficient and sustainable energy source.

 

The ITER facility is currently under construction.