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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
P. T. Spampinato, C. W. Bushnell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | November 1986 | Pages 527-532
The Compact Ignition Tokamak Program | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24800
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Compact Ignition Tokamak is envisaged to be the next experimental reactor in the U.S. Fusion Program. Its use of deuterium/tritium fuel requires the implementation of remote handling technology for maintenance and disassembly operations. The reactor is surrounded by a close-proximity nuclear shield which is designed to permit personnel access within the test cell, one day after shutdown. With the shield in place, certain maintenance activities in the test may be done hands-on. Maintenance on the reactor is accomplished remotely using a cranemounted manipulator after disassembling the shield. Maintenance within the plasma chamber is accomplished with two articulated boom manipulators that are capable of operating in a vacuum environment. They are stored in a vacuum enclosure behind movable shield plugs. The maintenance-related facilities are the test cell, hot cell, decontamination cell, warm cell, and the fabrication, assembly, and mockup building.