MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Russia has supplied key equipment for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) under construction in France, the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said.

"Its delivery opens the path to a series of functional tests of high-technology components of the unit," the company informed.

One of the first four test benches was delivered to the construction site of the reactor in South France. It is designed for vacuum, heat and functional tests of port plugs, key diagnostics elements of the future unit. The next phase will be tests, during which conditions as close to real ones as possible to be reproduced inside test benches.

"This test bench is one of the most difficult and science-intensive systems within the sphere of our responsibility under the project. Our key vendors had to create and implement cutting-edge innovative solutions for its development and manufacturing. Russia was entrusted with manufacturing of all the four units and this is the result of our experience and technology leadership," Director of ITER Project Center (Rosatom) Anatoly Krasilnikov said, cited by Rosatom.