/ Energy / Amec Foster Wheeler to Work on Simulator to Validate ITER Reactor and Train Operators

Amec Foster Wheeler to Work on Simulator to Validate ITER Reactor and Train Operators

Parul Dubey on January 11, 2017 - in Energy

Amec Foster Wheeler announces today that it has been appointed to carry out design development work on an integrated plant simulator for the ITER nuclear fusion reactor.

 

The company will draw up technical specifications and implementation plans for the simulator along with three subcontractors: the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Fortum, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.

 

Greg Willetts, Vice President for Consultancy at Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy business, said:

 

“We are delighted to have been asked to lead this work which will play an important part in preparing for the integrated operation of the ITER machine. This contract award demonstrates the depth of expertise in Clean Energy’s software and consultancy services team, which develops and licenses its ANSWERS radiation transport computer codes to a wide range of clients. These codes are currently used to support all stages of the nuclear fission plant operational cycle; we now have the opportunity to extend their application to a full-scale nuclear fusion facility.”

 

The simulator will bring an integrated approach to the training of operators and will support the commissioning and operation phases at ITER, which is building the world’s largest nuclear fusion machine at Saint-Paul-lez-Durance in the South of France.

 

To validate the design and design modifications, plant simulators are being developed for the heating, plasma and cryogenic systems. The integrated plant simulator is vital in understanding the behaviour of the full ITER machine because it provides the capability to simulate how these interconnected systems interact.

 

This contract adds to Amec Foster Wheeler’s existing work at ITER, which includes a 10-year construction management contract, remote handling and robotics for the neutral beam, conceptual design and engineering for a remotely operated cutting and packaging system to reduce the volume of waste, design of a remotely operated rail and trolley system for maintenance and inspection of the cryostat, and studies into decommissioning and decontamination.

 

Amec Foster Wheeler

Amec Foster Wheeler (www.amecfw.com) designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers across the global energy and related sectors.

 

Employing around 36,000 people in more than 55 countries and with 2015 revenues of £5.5 billion, the company operates across the oil and gas industry – from production through to refining, processing and distribution of derivative products – and in the mining, clean energy, power generation, pharma, environment and infrastructure markets.

 

Amec Foster Wheeler offers full life-cycle services to offshore and onshore oil and gas projects (conventional and unconventional, upstream, midstream and downstream) for greenfield, brownfield and asset support projects, plus leading refining technology.

 

The company’s nuclear business stands out for its ability to bring world-leading expertise, technology and scientific capabilities to customers’ challenges throughout the life-cycle from new build and reactor operations to life extension and decommissioning. With more than 3,000 nuclear specialists around the world, we’re able to support our customers with local resources.

 

Amec Foster Wheeler shares are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and its American Depositary Shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Both trade under the ticker AMFW.

 

The ANSWERS Software Service, part of Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy business, supplies high quality software and consultancy services for customers world-wide in the areas of reactor physics, radiation shielding, dosimetry, nuclear criticality, well logging and nuclear data. To learn more: www.answerssoftwareservice.com

 

ITER – designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power – will be the world’s largest experimental fusion facility. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars: when light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released. Fusion research is aimed at developing a safe, abundant and environmentally responsible energy source. ITER is also a first-of-a-kind global collaboration. Europe is contributing almost half of the costs of its construction, while the other six members of this joint international venture (China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA), are contributing equally to the rest. The ITER Project is under construction in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, in the south of France. For more information on the ITER Project, visit: www.iter.org. More information about the integrated plant simulator can be found here.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains statements which constitute “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements include any statements related to the timing, results and success of contracts, and are generally identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “will,” “may,” “continue,” “should” and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Amec Foster Wheeler, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking statements. Amec Foster Wheeler does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements after this date to conform such statements to actual results, to reflect the occurrence of anticipated results or otherwise.

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