F4E and VTT collaboration shines new light on ITER Remote Handling

One of the most fascinating aspects of ITER is the way high-tech robotics, virtual reality and the transportation of heavy-load equipment within a tightly confined space, will be inter-connected in a seamless manner to deliver the Remote Handling systems of the biggest-ever fusion device.
Such systems are needed because it is either dangerous or impossible to be physically present and perform inspections or maintenance works. Think for instance of the Mars rover space mission or underwater operations that had to rely on this mix of technologies. In the case of ITER, the components of the Divertor will need to be installed, inspected and replaced when the 150˚ million degrees Celsius of the super-hot plasma is switched off. All these tasks can only be performed through remote handling.

In VTT, Finland’s Technical Research Centre, in collaboration with the University of Tampere, they have been proudly hosting over the last six years a facility known as the Divertor Test Platform (DTP2). A team of experts has been relentlessly working together with F4E in order to test the movement and transportation of one real size component mock-up in order to draw lessons and use this knowledge at the final stage of manufacturing of the systems. A dark piece of metal weighing roughly 10 tonnes and measuring 3,3m x 2,3m x 0,8m is in full contrast to the white rails upon which it is resting. To those not familiar with ITER it may look like a massive snail. To others who know the project inside out it is what we call in ITER jargon- a Divertor cassette. The machine will have 54 cassettes in total and they will form the ITER Divertor. This component will absorb a significant amount of the heat during operation and shield the lower part of the vacuum vessel and magnets from the neutrons. How will this work? In practice, the powerful magnets will divert part of the hot plasma together with the “ashes” and impurities from the walls of the vessel and direct them to the massive ashtray formed by the divertor cassettes.

For Carlo Damiani, F4E’s Project Manager for Remote Handling systems, and his team this is a big day. They have arrived to Tampere, where DTP2 is located, to witness the demonstration of the central cassette mock-up getting installed and removed. There is an unusual buzz in the facility and every protocol needs to be respected. The remote handling operators take positions in front of the big screens in order to perform with extreme precision and dexterity the test. All eyes are glued on the monitors as the 10 tonnes start moving gracefully on the rails. Different parameters are rolling in front of our eyes indicating speed, angles and the time left to complete the task. On the screens we see the cassette emerging, slowly and subtly lifted and finally locking. They did it! For Salvador Esqué, following on behalf of F4E this project, it’s a feeling of relief and excitement. “It’s almost like a camel going through the eye of a needle. Can you imagine the millimetric precision that is required and the weight that we are lifting and transporting? It’s really impressive”.

The test is successfully concluded and Carlo Damiani is already thinking of the next steps. “What you have just seen is the beginning of a brand new technology chapter written thanks to ITER. We need to design and manufacture remote handling systems that are resistant, agile and precise. It’s an opportunity for industry, SMEs and laboratories to think out of the box, innovate in engineering and shape the future fusion reactors”. Europe’s contribution to ITER’s Remote Handling systems is in the range of 250 Million EUR. F4E and its suppliers will have to deliver the Divertor and Neutral Beam Remote Handling systems, the Cask Transfer system and the In-Vessel Viewing and Metrology system.

Jouko Suokas, VTT Executive Vice President for Smart Industry and Energy Systems, is also present at the demonstration and after thanking his team he explains that “playing a role in this big-science project has helped us to generate new know-how. To give you an example, we have developed new expertise in areas like mechanical engineering, manipulator arms, special tooling, control system software, virtual reality and so on…The potential spin-offs and expertise are some of the key reasons of our involvement. The possible industrial applications are widespread in the field of industry, such as in off-shore movable machine manufacturers, power plants or the manufacturing industry”.

The R&D that started in the DTP2 facility has successfully found a niche in the partnership of companies and laboratories led by Assystem UK, a leader in innovation and engineering consultancy, for the design, manufacturing, delivery, on-site integration, commissioning and final acceptance tests for the ITER Divertor Remote Handling system. The value of the contract, awarded by F4E, is in the range of 40 million EUR and brings onboard some of the pioneers from the area of remote handling in Europe such as the UK’s Culham Centre of Fusion Energy (CCFE) and Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd (SMD) together with the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and VTT. Through this contract, the complete set of cassette movers, manipulators and tools will be designed and manufactured.

In order to celebrate this important milestone we visited DTP2 and filmed the tests.
Stay tuned for the F4E clip to receive an exclusive tour inside the facility!