Photo: Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images
These columns pointing up from the foundation of ITER’s soon-to-be-built Tokamak Complex in southern France have a herculean task. The 493 concrete platforms, each featuring an antiseismic bearing made of alternate layers of metal and rubber, will support the three-building monolith’s 360 000-metric-ton weight and allow it to move laterally as much as 10 centimeters to prevent ground shifts from affecting the controlled fusion experiments that will be conducted there.
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