Activities of Michèle RIVASI related to 2022/2129(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy for the financial year 2021
Amendments (3)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that ITER officially expects a first operational test in 2025 and to achieve full fusion power by 2035; observes, however, that this baseline was adopted in 2016, and that, since then, construction and manufacturing delays, and the pandemic, have made the 2025 date increasingly unlikely; underlines, in addition, that, according to the Court’s report, there is a risk of further delay due to a combination of different construction starting from problems welding the vacuum vessel sections that form the steel chamber in which the fusion experiments will take place; to the problem of corrosion causing cracks up to 2.2 millimetres deep on the thermal shield panels.This affects all 23 kilometres of cooling pipes welded to the component surface. Due to the fact that the crack issue in the cooling pipes could be systemic, affecting all thermal shield components of Tokamak, the new direction of ITER activates a repair strategy for the Tokamak's thermal shield panels and vacuum vessel sectors.
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes, that the duration and cost of the repairs cannot, at this stage, be precisely estimated but the ITER Council, inat the first quarterend of of 2023, plans to adopt a new ITER baseline, setting out the calendar for certain achievements, which will significantly push back the dates when it expects to accomplish key milestones and consequently impact the estimate at completion;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that, as regards nuclear safety requirements, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (NSA) has the ultimate authority to approve any further changes in designs affecting the nuclear safety requirements, and that, in this context, at the beginning of 2021, the Joint Undertaking formally applied for the NSA approval of the new welding design and technology related to the assembly of the components of the tokamak pit; underlines, however, that only in January 2022, did the NSA request the Joint Undertaking for additional information to finalise its analysis: analysis and concluded in its letter of February 2022 that the installation's radiological shielding devices did not demonstrate control of the limitation of exposure to ionizing radiation, a major issue for a nuclear fusion facility; notes that, while NSA’s approval is part of the ITER-IO’s normal assembly process, its unaddressed safety concerns it may, however, result in an additional delay of several months and consequently impact the estimate at completion;