Time lapse: Assembly of Wendelstein 7-X

Construction of the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device from 2005 to 2014

The Wendelstein 7-X device comprises five large and almost identical modules, which were preinstalled and then assembled in a circle in the experimentation hall.

Assembly began in April 2005 with the installation of the first of ten half modules. Seven superconducting magnet coils were strung along one tenth of the steel plasma vessel. Two half modules then were joint together to a whole module, which then was furnished with cooling pipes and current leads. In the experimentation hall the five modules one by one were equipped with their cryostat sheath and being joined together. The base machine was completed in 2011.

The ports for measuring instruments, heating facilities and pumps were now incorporated, 45 ports for each module. Installation of the in-vessel components and assembly of the periphery followed: the plasma heating devices, the supply facilities for electric energy and cooling, the machine control system, and the diagnostics equipment. The main installation of the fusion device was completed in May 2014 – commissioning began. The first plasma was produced in December 2015.