Dust removal experiments for ITER blanket remote handling system

Ueno, Kenichi; Aburadani, Atsushi; Saito, Makiko; Maruyama, Takahito; Takeda, Nobukazu; Murakami, Shin; Kakudate, Satoshi

To reduce the maintenance workers dose rate caused by activated dust adhering to the ITER blanket remote handling system (BRHS), the dust must be removed from the BRHS surfaces. Dust that may adhere to the top surface of the BRHS rail from cyclic loading of the in-vessel transporter was considered to be the most difficult aspect for dust removal. Dust removal experiments were conducted to simulate the materials, conditions, and cyclic loading of actual BRHS operations. Tungsten powder was used to simulate the dust. A combination of dust removal methods including vacuum cleaning and brushing were applied to simulated dust that adhered to the test pieces. The results show that simulated dust was able to be removed following a 60-second vacuum cleaning and an additional 60-second vacuum cleaning and brushing. Trace amounts of simulated dust (7.810 g/mm) still remained after this additional cleaning.