Current status of research and development on remote maintenance for fusion components

Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Shibanuma, Kiyoshi

After the maintenance operation campaign at JET in 1998, which was the first fully remote handling operations on a fusion Tokamak, the remote maintenance of the in-vessel components is getting important more and more. For the fusion power plant, in particular, it is one of most important factors which affect on economics of the plant. Also for the ITER, currently under construction, the maintenance for the blanket and divertor in the vacuum vessel is planned to be operated by the remote equipment. In order to realize this, many designs and element tests were have been performed. This paper describes about the current situation of the research and development on the remote maintenance for fusion components, referring mainly the ITER remote maintenance system an example.