a robotic future for nuclear fusion - power technology

8/7/2015 AroboticfuturefornuclearfusionPowerTechnologyhttp://www.powertechnology.com/features/featurearoboticfuturefornuclearfusion4631075/#.VcQvh8h0j4I.twitter 1/4InMay,itwasannouncedthatAmecFosterWheelerwilldeveloparemotehandlingsystemfortheITERfusionreactorinFrance.Thesevenyearroboticscontractwillfocusonasystemthatcanhandlehazardousandsensitivematerialsremotely,allwiththeaimofdemonstratingthefeasibilityofnuclearfusionasafuturepowersource.AmecFosterWheelerwasawardedthecontractbyFusionforEnergy(F4E),theEUorganisationresponsibleforEurope'scontributiontoITER,whichistheworld'sbiggestfusionenergyproject.Thecompany'ssystem,officiallyknownastheNeutralBeamCellRemoteHandlingSystem,isthelargestnuclearroboticscontractawardedbyF4EtoaUKcompanytodate.AmecFosterWheelerwillleadtheprojectwithsupportfromahostofotherspecialists,includingtheCulhamCentreforFusionEnergy(theUK'snationalfusionresearchlaboratory),ReelSASofFranceandWalischmillerEngineeringGmbHofGermany.Astheprojectbeginstomovethroughtheconceptphasealongitslengthypath,JonMontgomerie,chiefengineerattheEuropeanRemoteHandlingAlliance(ERHA),anAmecFosterWheelercooperativecontractingarrangement,discussestheoriginoftheideaandhowitwillworkinpractice.GaryPeters:CanyoutalkmethroughAmecFosterWheeler'sexpertiseintheareaofusingroboticsforenergyandnuclearfusion?JonMontgomerie:Thenuclearfissionindustryhasusedremotehandlinginoneformoranotherrightfromitsinception,asitwasknownfromthestartthatthereweresomesituationswherematerialshandlingrequirementscouldnotbemetsafelyusingahumanoperatorwithconventionaltools.Gradually,technologyhasevolvedtobettermeettheseneeds,startingwithsimpletongsoperatedthroughaballjointinashieldingwalluptotheelectronicallycontrolledroboticdeviceswearedevelopingtoday.Thisspecialisedsphereofexpertisecanbecallednuclearremotehandling(RH)orrobotics,andwehaveanumberofexpertsinthisfieldwithexpertiseandpastexperienceofnuclearRHwork.ThecompanyitselfhasdeliveredquiteafewprojectsovertheyearsinnuclearRH,withariseinrecentyearspartlyfuelledbyanincreaseinremoteinterventionsneededbyoneofourmajorclientstoaddressemergentissues,oftenagerelated,withitsfleetofnuclearpowerstations.Inrecentyears,AmecFosterWheeler'snuclearbusinesshashadanaverageturnoverinNuclearRHofaround5mperyear,sotheNeutralBeamRemoteHandlingSystemcontract,at70moversevenyears,representsamajorstepforwardforus.Aroboticfuturefornuclearfusion26August2015GaryPetersPowerTechnologyMarket&CustomerInsightLogIn 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2/4Nuclearpowergoodforbiodiversity?Seventyfiveacademicshavecalledforalargerrolefornuclearinthefutureenergymix.GP:HowdidthepremiseofaremotehandlingsystemfortheITERfusionreactorinFrancecomeabout?JM:ITERwill,inverysimpleterms,recreatethereactionthatisgoingoninthecentreofthesunheldwithinavacuumandconstrainedbylargemagneticfields.Thiscreatesanenvironmentthatpersonnelcannotaccess,andthereforeremotehandlingsystemsneedtobecreatedtoallowallsortsoftaskstobeperformed.TheNeutralBeamRemoteHandlingSystemisoneofthesesystems.Conceptsforthesevarioussystemshavebeendevelopedforanumberofyearsbythescientificcommunity,andwearenowatthestageoftheITERprojectoftakingtheseconceptdesignsandmakingthemreal,sothattheycanactuallybebuilt.GP:Diggingdeeperintothespecifics,howwillthesystembeoperated?JM:Overtheprojectedsevenyeardevelopmentanddeliveryphase,ERHAwillneedtoinvolvehundredsofpeoplewithskillsrangingfromthoseoftheprojectdirectorthroughtothespecialistengineerswithskillsinrobotics,liftingsystems,specialistcuttingandothertoolsystems,controlsystem,visionsystems,andsoon,rightthroughtothecraftsmendeliveringtheprecisionmanufacturingnecessarytobuildthistypeofequipmentandthensafelyandsuccessfullyinstallandcommissionit.Onceinstalledandcommissioned,thesystemwillbeoperatedbyITERstaff,trainedbyus,workingfromacontrolroomsafelyshieldedfromtheenvironmentoftheNeutralBeamcell,andabout100mawayfromit.Alloperationswillbenotonlycarriedoutremotelybutalsoviewedremotelythatistosay,therewillbenodirectviewthroughwindowsorwhatever.MonitoringoperationswillbeentirelybyCCTVandotherelectronicmonitoringsystems.Interestingly,fromourpastexperienceweknowthateventhehumblemicrophonecanbeahugelyvaluableinstrumentinallowingRHoperatorstounderstandwhattheequipmentisdoingandhowitisperforming,buttherewillofcoursebemanymoresophisticatedinstrumentsgeneratingdatatoguidetheoperatorsintheirwork.GP:Whatwillbethecoreresponsibilitiesofthesystem?JM:Asthenameimplies,theNeutralBeamRemoteHandlingSystemworksintheNeutralBeamCell,providingforallmaintenanceactivitiestobecarriedoutfromandincludingtheopeningoftheshieldedcoversontheneutralbeamlines.Eachoftheselinestherewillbethreeorfourisaroundthesizeofasmallbus,andiscrammedwithcomplexequipmentworkingatuptoamillionvolts.Provisionneedstobemadetodisconnectandchangeoutthevariousmodulesinsidethatallowthebeamlinestowork.Essentiallyitmustbepossibletocompletelystripouttheentirecontentsofthebeamlinevesselstoanemptyshellandthenreassemblecompletely,allwithoutanymanaccesstothecell.CommontomostothernuclearRHsystems,itmustalsobepossibletorecoverfromanypostulatedfaultscenario,againwithoutany'manaccess'tothecell,soeachmachineneedssystemsdesignedintoitforrecovery,andmethodsforremotelychangingovertothemsothatafailedpieceofequipmentcanberetrievedremotelyandrepaired.GP:Whatbenefitswillitprovide?JM:EssentiallyitwouldbeimpossibletooperatetheNeutralBeamCellwithouttheRHsystem,andwithouttheNBcellitwouldbeimpossibletooperateITER.Thereareseveralothersystemsintheplantthathaveasimilaressentialnature,inthattheareastheyworkinareentirelynonaccessible,yetcontaincomponentsandsystemsvitaltothefunctioningoftheITERplant.GP:Whatchallengesexistwhentryingtodeveloparemote8/7/2015 AroboticfuturefornuclearfusionPowerTechnologyhttp://www.powertechnology.com/features/featurearoboticfuturefornuclearfusion4631075/#.VcQvh8h0j4I.twitter 3/4"Onceinstalledandcommissioned,thesystemwillbeoperatedbyITERstaff,trainedbyus,workingfromacontrolroomsafelyshieldedfromtheenvironmentoftheNeutralBeamcell."handlingsystemforsuchatask?JM:Itisobviouslyourprimeintentiontoutiliseexistingtechnologicalbuildingblockswhereverpossiblewedon'twanttoreinventthewheel!Allthesame,therearesomespecifictechnicalissuesthatareneworatleastsomewhatnovel,andanearlypartoftheworkistoidentifytheseandcarryoutthenecessaryR&Dtoconvertthese'technicaluncertainties'intotriedandtestedtechnologythatwecandeploywithconfidence.ThisisparticularlycrucialforITERbecause,toagreaterextentthanmostothernuclearplants,itwillbehugelydependantonitsRemoteHandlingsystems,someofwhichiftheyfailedcouldbringthewholeplanttoastandstill.Inparticular,thereareanumberoftoolsthatneedtobedevelopedfortherobotstodeploy,fortheremotecutting,weldingandinspectingofpipework,alltoaveryhighstandard.Remotecuttingandweldinghavebeendonebefore,butthechallengesofdifficultaccess,constrainedspace,limitedconnectivityandextremelyhighstandardstobeachievedmeanthatthesetoolswillneedtobeabsolutelycuttingedge.Onamacroscale,thedeploymentoftherobotsystemsandtheirtoolsrequiresdeploymentmachineswithreachdistancesandnumberofdegreesoffreedomthatarerareevenwithrelativelysimpleRHsystems.Thesesystemsmustreachalongwayintoawkwardspacesandachieveaveryhighqualityofworkallinall,afairlychallengingnuclearenvironment.GP:Howwilltheremotehandlingsystemhelpdemonstratethetechnicalfeasibilityofnuclearfusionasafuturepowersource?JM:ThefeasibilityoffusionasanenergysourcewillbeverifiedbythefunctioningoftheITERexperimentitself,andultimatelyprovenbythefollowupplantDEMO,whichwillbetheworld'sfirstprototypeFusionPowerStation.But,asnotedbefore,certainaspectsofthefunctioningoftheITERplantwouldbeimpossiblewithoutthesophisticatedRHsystemsweareworkingon,andassuchtheyarepartofthatproofthatfusioncan,intheend,provideasustainableenergysourceforthefuture.GP:Howimportantaredevelopmentssuchasthesetonuclearfusionandindeedenergyasawhole?JM:ThesuccessfulfunctioningoftheseRHsystemsisvitaltotheoperationoftheITERplantitself,andtheirsuccessorswillbeequallyvitaltotheoperationofDEMO,andhencetotheveryfutureoffusionasaviableenergysource.Morebroadly,sincetheworkingenvironmentsaresimilar,thereishugepotentialforthetechnology,knowledgeandexperiencegeneratedontheseprojectstotransferbackintothefissionindustryfromwherealmostalltheexpertiseoriginallycame.ThemoreextremechallengesposedbytheITERRemoteHandlingsystemsisforcingnuclearRHtechnologyforwardatamuchacceleratedpace,makingnewapproachesthenavailableto[the]widernuclearindustry,potentiallyimprovingefficiencyandeffectivenessinallkindsofotherapplications.WealreadyhaveasmallR&DcontractinsupportofFukushima,andthisisjustoneexample,albeitawellknownone,ofwhereimprovementsinnuclearremotehandlingandroboticscouldhavehugebenefits.Ashotfromavirtualpositionwithinthebeamsource,whichshowsthebeamsourceremotehandlingequipment.8/7/2015 AroboticfuturefornuclearfusionPowerTechnologyhttp://www.powertechnology.com/features/featurearoboticfuturefornuclearfusion4631075/#.VcQvh8h0j4I.twitter 4/4ThismanipulatorwillbeusedonthebeamsourceremotehandlingequipmentBSRHEandbeamlinetransporters.Themonorailcraneisusedtoremotelyaccessthecellforallequipment.AmecFosterWheelerwillnowdeveloparemotehandlingsystemoverasevenyearproject.