Air Liquide Engineering & Construction has commissioned a liquid nitrogen plant at the ITER Tokamak Complex in southern France. The facility provides 1,300 kW of cooling power at -193 degrees Celsius and will pre-cool helium refrigeration units that cool the reactor's superconducting magnets. The project, a partnership with Fusion for Energy, began in 2013 and was originally expected to cost 65 million euros. ITER is an international fusion research project involving 35 countries, including China, Europe, Japan, India, South Korea, Russia, and the US. The goal is to demonstrate nuclear fusion as a commercially viable carbon-free energy source. The cryoplant handles cooling, movement, processing, and storage of cryogenic fluids for the magnetic fusion device. This nitrogen plant is a key piece of infrastructure for a major low-carbon energy experiment. While fusion is still years from commercial use, completing this system moves ITER closer to operation and testing.
