DEMO Active Maintenance Facility concept progress 2012

The DEMO Active Maintenance Facility (AMF) would be used for the storage, handling and processing of In-Vessel Components (IVC) throughout their time on site, the only exception being the time that they are installed in the vessel. It is anticipated that all handling operations associated with used components will have to be carried out using remote handling techniques. plasma operations the In-Vessel Components are exposed to high levels of neutron activation. This activation results in high radiation dose rates and decay heating. This presents a significant problem for Remote Handling Equipment (RHE) in the AMF. The high dose rates require the equipment to be sufficiently radiation tolerant to allow it to work reliably for long periods. The decay heating requires forced cooling of newly removed IVCʹs while they are in storage. The duration of the storage is dependent on the decay heating reducing to a level that has been nominally set at <50 °C without active cooling in room temperature air. aper summarises the progress made in 2012 on the conceptual design of the AMF and its facilities. The layout and proposed function of the main areas will be described along with the principles applied. The design of the AMF has evolved from a simple representation of the required facilities in 2011 to a concept that can be developed to support maintenance of DEMO.