Commonwealth Fusion Systems recently received a key component at the campus in Devens, Massachusetts- the first half of the vacuum vessel at the heart of their SPARC machine. The 48-ton half-donut-shaped steel construction is instrumental to SPARC’s mission to demonstrate the core technology for their ARC fusion power plant.
The arrival comes after the installation of SPARC’s cryostat base and the tokamak (the foundation of a fusion machine). “This is a really exciting time because we’re starting to really see the pieces come together for SPARC,” Chief Science Officer and Co-founder Brandon Sorbom said. The company is now set to begin a new phase of SPARC assembly, as CFS crews working on the floor of Tokamak Hall are preparing the vacuum vessel for use by first adding diagnostic equipment, and then components made of heat-tolerant tungsten metal.
Getting the vacuum vessel onto campus and inside Tokamak Hall for SPARC assembly required years of close coordination among several CFS teams — from diagnostics and design to thermal and structural engineering. But it also involved work to develop a supply chain that reaches outside CFS.
Read more about how CFS is making strides in fusion here: Half of SPARC’s heart, a 48-ton steel vessel, arrives at CFS | The Tokamak Times