The design and development of divertor remote handling equipment for ITER

A key ITER maintenance activity is the complete exchange of the divertor system at scheduled intervals, typically after every 3-4 years of plasma operations. ITER divertor replacement is classified as a remote handling (RH) Class I activity and as such, detailed design of the associated equipment and verification of its operation before ITER construction by way of prototypes and mock-ups, is considered an essential activity. With this in mind, a major step in the EU RH development programme for ITER involves the construction of a full-scale physical test facility in which to verify and refine divertor RH equipment designs through the operation of prototypes closely replicating those proposed for ITER. This paper reports on the design of one such prototype, namely the cassette multifunctional mover (CMM), and outlines the current build status and planning for the new RH mock-up facility in which to test this device. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.