Concept design of the CFETR divertor remote handling system

Abstract

The Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR) is a superconducting tokamak fusion device envisioned to provide 200MW fusion power. Because of erosion with hazardous and/or activated dust (beryllium, carbon, tungsten) and tritium, the use of remote handling techniques will be eventually required. In particular, the replacement of components such as divertor modules will require the use of remote cutting, welding and inspection of cooling pipes. CFETR consists of 44 divertor (tow sizes) cassettes located in the bottom region of the vacuum vessel. The cassettes will be withdrawn from the vessel through four dedicated ports and transported to a hot cell for refurbishment and replacement during the reactor's operational lifetime. The divertor system remote replacement is one of the key maintenance operations for the CFETR due to the requirements of duty factor (0.3–0.5), machine safety, high plant availability and reliability. The critical issues such as the operational conditions (temperature, atmosphere, radiation, and contamination), maintenance functions, and mechanical design requirements of the divertor remote handling maintenance system (RHMS) are described. The concept design of the remote handling equipment, the operating procedures and the maintenance time estimations for high plant availability are also discussed in this paper.