Ian Maver lectured on the James Webb Telescope and Les Rodgers lectured on Nuclear Fusion.
The James Webb Telescope is an incredibly complicated piece of machinery. It is now situated a long way from Earth and there is no present method of repairing it or recalling it to Earth. It has to work. It has a lot of very precise machines on it. Les pointed out some of the engineering involved in its functioning. The mirrors at times must be moved and this has to be done with precise measurement. Machinery is involved.
Les then followed with Nuclear Fusion Reactors, Part 2.
Les spoke about the reconstruction of the Japanese JT-60U reactor as a result of the “Broader Approach” agreement between the EU and Japan. This agreement was reached after a two-year standoff while the argument proceeded as to whether ITER should be built in Japan or France. France won and the agreement was the payoff to Japan and has already been extended. Physical construction was completed in March 2020 and commissioning has been ongoing since then but was interrupted in March 2021 by the failure of insulation in the connections to the Equilibrium Coil EF1 at 25% full power. Commissioning was expected to recommence in February 2022 but has not done so yet.
This was a major setback and was said to be a failure of quality control of the design and specification of critical components. Finding and correcting these things are what such comprehensive commissioning tests are for.
(If you would like to read Les’s summaries of his powerpoint presentations for both Parts I and II, visit the posts below).