Effect of high aspect ratio on ITER maintenance design

Since the completion of the conceptual design activity (CDA), systems studies by the US ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) design team have pointed to the possible benefits of a high aspect ratio design (HARD). The alternative HARD has been shown to have better performance characteristics than the present baseline. The HARD machine configuration modified in size a number of major components that must be remotely maintained or replaced. This required reevaluation of the maintenance scenarios of these components with respect to changes in physical accessibility, assembly and disassembly, and remote maintenance equipment. The CDA baseline design and HARD are compared from an assembly and maintenance feasibility perspective for some critical operations