The front side of the reflector assembly was installed this week, completing this stage of the assembly process. The star of the show, the new target, was lifted into the remote handling cell last week, using a cantilever frame designed specifically by the team for this purpose, as shown in the video below.

To get these components into the right position, they were lifted from the assembly area into the tunnel that runs below the target area. They are then moved using a trolley to underneath the remote handling cell, where the internal crane is used to lift them into position.

This process marks the last time that the TRaM will be able to be viewed directly as, once operations begins, they will become too radioactive to get close to. Therefore, all maintenance and the rest of the installation will need to take place with the team using the manipulator arms. 

As well as the TRaM itself, the G3 module, which links the TRaM to the target services area (TSA), was also installed last week. This is the last large assembly to be lifted into the TSA and there is now a lot of activity inside there to make all the connections and complete the assembly before the target is due to receive beam in the Autumn. ​