Manufacturing progress of first delivery sector of ITER vacuum vessel thermal shield

•Manufacturing process and key inspection results of ITER vacuum vessel thermal shield (VVTS) are described.•A novel endoscope is developed for a long welded cooling pipe (max. ∼ 35 m)•Two vacuum leak tests are performed for a welded cooling pipe based on ASTM standard.•3D laser scanning is performed to check the effect of shape correction for flange to shell welding.•Design of 40 degree pre-assembly jig for VVTS is shown and silver coating jig prototype has been fabricated and its handling test is completed. This paper describes the manufacturing progress of ITER Vacuum Vessel Thermal Shield (VVTS) sectors, which are on-going since the start of material buffing in October 2014. Fabrication of VVTS proceeds according to the following main processes: 1) plate cutting, 2) bending and forming, 3) welding, 4) flange final machining, 5) pre-assembly of 40 ° sector, 6) silver coating and 7) final acceptance test. All VVTS shell segments are to be assembled by the flange joints, which are welded to the shells. Two kinds of inspection methods are presented for the cooling pipe welding: endoscope and leak test. A specific endoscope is developed for a long welded cooling pipe. Vacuum leak test is performed in the test vacuum chamber with the helium pressurization of cooling pipe by 3 MPa, which is the same pressure differential with the operating condition of the VVTS. One of the dimensional inspection, 3D laser scanning is also described to see the effect of shape correction for the flange to shell welding. Silver coating jig design has been carried out, focusing on the electrode position. Structural analysis results are shown for the design of pre-assembly jig of 40 ° sector. Finally near term schedule of the manufacturing is summarized.