PVD-manufacturer wins large framework contract at ITER
The PVD equipment manufacturer Polyteknik is a supplier to both CERN and ESO. The company has recently won a four-year framework contract at ITER, where it will develop a system for self-cleansing mirrors.
The many mirrors on the ITER reactor will over time become contaminated by deposits from the use of the reactor. Therefore, the ITER organisation has searched for a supplier who can develop a system for the mirrors to clean themselves and has chosen the Danish company Polyteknik, which has won a four-year framework contract.
Polyteknik will create a system for cleaning the first mirror units, which are the very first mirrors in the diagnostic system that are closest to the reactor. The project has high demands for the use of materials and method of assembly, and therefore Polyteknik will provide several mock-ups and receive several task orders during the project, to create self-cleaning mirrors, which can work under ITER's conditions.
An experienced big science supplier
Polyteknik has worked systematically with big science deliveries for several years and has, among other things, renovated and serviced the coater for the mirrors on ESO's Extremely Large Telescope. This experience, combined with Polyteknik’s long-standing competencies in producing components for complex PVD systems, have contributed to the fact that the company has won the framework contract. Polyteknik also participated in ITER Business Forum in 2017, where they met many important contact persons at ITER.
- Our engineering skills have been vital in winning the project. We can deliver total systems and are used to deliver products with a tight deadline. In addition, our cooperation with CERN and ESO means that we know what it requires to be a supplier to the big science organisations, says René Bang Madsen, Project Manager at Polyteknik.
For Polyteknik, the four-year contract has meant that the company has been able to kickstart an internal group working only with big science projects.
- It requires something special to deliver to ITER, CERN and ESO, and we can now give that area the attention it deserves. There are many exciting projects on the way to the facilities, and we are talking about employing more staff to work on big science projects, says René Bang Madsen.