The development of a remote maintenance concept to replace DEMO in-vessel components after completion of their lifecycle or in case of failure is fundamental to the successful implementation of the EU fusion roadmap. The replacement of the hot breeding blanket (BB), by far the largest in-vessel component, at the end of its lifecycle is particularly important. This includes the removal from the reactor, the transport to the active maintenance facility (AMF) where the BB is decontaminated and prepared for storage as radioactive waste and the preparation and installation of the new BB. Significant effort is made to control and minimize the spread of contamination. All operations are therefore carried out in sealed rooms and corridors. The high mass of the BB segments requires all remote handling equipment to be capable of handling high payloads of more than 100 tons. It must also operate within tight space and based on impaired feedback from control sensors in the radioactive environment. At the same time, it must be highly reliable in accordance with nuclear requirements and be recoverable in case of failure. Some concepts of BB lifting devices were investigated in the past [1] (Keep et al., 2017), but were discontinued due to insufficient payload capacity. Thus, the vertical maintenance of the BB was identified as one of DEMO's key design integration issues since failure to develop a feasible concept would potentially require major changes to the tokamak architecture [2] (Bachmann et al., 2020). A new study had been initiated with a focus on structural integrity and efficient load transfer from the BB through the RH equipment to the VV upper port. A concept of the BB transfer cask and the BB transporter resulting from this study is presented in this article together with a conceptual study of the layout of the tokamak building and the AMF. Studies of alternative concepts for in-vessel maintenance are conducted in parallel but will not be described here.
Conceptual study of the remote maintenance of the DEMO breeding blanket
Mozzillo, R.Conceptualization
2022-01-01
Abstract
The development of a remote maintenance concept to replace DEMO in-vessel components after completion of their lifecycle or in case of failure is fundamental to the successful implementation of the EU fusion roadmap. The replacement of the hot breeding blanket (BB), by far the largest in-vessel component, at the end of its lifecycle is particularly important. This includes the removal from the reactor, the transport to the active maintenance facility (AMF) where the BB is decontaminated and prepared for storage as radioactive waste and the preparation and installation of the new BB. Significant effort is made to control and minimize the spread of contamination. All operations are therefore carried out in sealed rooms and corridors. The high mass of the BB segments requires all remote handling equipment to be capable of handling high payloads of more than 100 tons. It must also operate within tight space and based on impaired feedback from control sensors in the radioactive environment. At the same time, it must be highly reliable in accordance with nuclear requirements and be recoverable in case of failure. Some concepts of BB lifting devices were investigated in the past [1] (Keep et al., 2017), but were discontinued due to insufficient payload capacity. Thus, the vertical maintenance of the BB was identified as one of DEMO's key design integration issues since failure to develop a feasible concept would potentially require major changes to the tokamak architecture [2] (Bachmann et al., 2020). A new study had been initiated with a focus on structural integrity and efficient load transfer from the BB through the RH equipment to the VV upper port. A concept of the BB transfer cask and the BB transporter resulting from this study is presented in this article together with a conceptual study of the layout of the tokamak building and the AMF. Studies of alternative concepts for in-vessel maintenance are conducted in parallel but will not be described here.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
