AbstractA study has been carried out to identify a maintenance concept which will lead to an acceptable availability for a future fusion power reactor. Initially a maintenance concept was developed, based on the layout and maintenance scheme proposed in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) CDA, this currently being the most advanced tokamak design. However, it is demonstrated that this maintenance scheme would result in an overall reactor availability of 70%, which is about 10% less than that expected in future PWRs. An alternative maintenance scheme is therefore proposed in which the divertor plates are serviced through dedicated maintenance ports for each reactor sector and the blanket is sub-divided in both the radial and poloidal directions to allow it to be handled through the radial access ports. This could lead to an availability of the order of 80%, and have the additional advantages of reduced active waste disposal and lower blanket costs over the life of the fusion power reactor.
Remote handling technology development for fusion experimental reactors