Development of Blanket Remote Maintenance System

ITER in-vessel components such as blankets are scheduled maintenance components, including complete shield blanket replacement for breeding blankets. In-vessel components are activated by 14 MeV neutrons, so blanket maintenance requires remote handling equipment and tools able to handle heavy payloads of about 4 tons within a positioning accuracy of 2 mm under intense gamma radiation. To facilitate remote maintenance, blankets are segmented into 730 modules and railmounted vehicle remote maintenance was developed. According to the ITER R&D program, critical technology related to blanket maintenance was developed extensively through joint efforts of the Japan, EU, and U.S. home teams. This paper summarizes current blanket maintenance technology conducted by the Japan Home Team, including development of full-scale remote handling equipment and tools for blanket maintenance.

Measurement and Control System for ITER Remote Maintenance Equipment

ITER in-vessel components such as blankets and divertors are categorized as scheduled maintenance components because they are subjected to severe plasma heat and particle loads. Blanket maintenance requires remote handling equipment and tools able to handle Heavy payloads of about 4 tons within a 2mm precision tolerance. divertor maintenance requires remote replacement of 60 cassettes with a dead weight of about 25 tons each. In the ITER R&D program, full-scale remote handling equipment for blanket and divertor maintenance has been designed and assembled for demonstration tests. This paper reviews the measurement and control system developed for full-scale remote handling equipment, the Japan Home Team contribution.