ITER remote maintenance

During the conceptual design activity (CDA) for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a reactor design was established that emphasized performance of the individual systems in a minimum overall reactor size. The resulting high component density arrangement dictates including assembly and maintenance (A&M) considerations in the development of the configuration. The A&M task is complicated further since remote handling equipment will be required after the start of deuterium-tritium operations. During the CDA, the Assembly and Maintenance Design Unit addressed many aspects of an overall A&M system. The authors discuss the ITER A&M philosophy that evolved, describe the ITER configuration as it relates to maintenance, and describe the procedures and equipment required for specific maintenance operations. Change-out of the in-vessel divertors and blanket/shields modules is discussed in detail.< >