Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Remote-handling challenges in fusion research and beyond

Nature Physics volume 12, pages 391–393 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Energy-producing nuclear fusion reactions taking place in tokamaks cause radiation damage and radioactivity. Remote-handling technology for repairing and replacing in-vessel components has evolved enormously over the past two decades — and is now being deployed elsewhere too.

In the search for a viable future electricity supply, nuclear fusion remains an enticing option1,2. While fusion physicists contend with the challenges of controlling high-temperature plasmas, fusion engineers have started to think about designing a cost-effective fusion powerplant. A fusion reactor has to be designed not only to contain the burning plasma, but also to capture and use the fusion energy that is produced in the form of energetic 14.1-MeV neutrons. Ultimately, this energy must be used to produce steam to drive an electricity generator. The only way to do this is to slow down the neutrons, hence harvesting the kinetic energy, by 'putting materials in the way'. These materials, notably metal 'blankets' containing lithium, and coolants such as water or helium, are placed adjacent to the plasma inside the vacuum vessel.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Remote-handling systems used to service the JET tokamak.

© UK ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY

Figure 2: Tokamak blanket segment removal.
Figure 3: Tokamak divertor cassette removal.

References

  1. Cowley, S. C. Nature Phys. 12, 384–386 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ongena, J., Koch, R., Wolf, R. & Zohm, H. Nature Phys. 12, 398–410 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Knaster, J., Moeslang, A. & Muroga, T. Nature Phys. 12, 424–434 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Stork, D. et al. Fusion Eng. Des. 89, 1586–1594 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Loving, A. et al. Fusion Eng. Des. 89, 2246–2250 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Loving, A. et al. Fusion Eng. Des. 87, 880–884 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Raimondi, T. Fusion Eng. Des. 11, 196–208 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Mills, S. et al. Fusion Technol. 1, 1139–1142 (1998).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Sykes, N. et al. Fusion Eng. Des. 86, 1843–1846 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Interview with Bernard Bigot. Nature Phys. 12, 395–397 (2016).

  11. Stork, D. et al. J. Nucl. Mater. 455, 277–291 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. A Conceptual Study of Commercial Fusion Power Plants (EFDA, 2005); www.euro-fusion.org

  13. Crofts, O. et al. Fusion Eng. Des. 89, 2283–2387 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rob Buckingham and Antony Loving are at the Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) facility, UK Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB, UK,

    Rob Buckingham & Antony Loving

Authors
  1. Rob Buckingham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Antony Loving
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rob Buckingham or Antony Loving.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Buckingham, R., Loving, A. Remote-handling challenges in fusion research and beyond. Nature Phys 12, 391–393 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3755

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3755

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing