Nuclear engineering of diagnostic port plugs on ITER

The nuclear engineering infrastructure of port-based diagnostics on ITER is presented, including the equatorial and upper port plug generic designs, the adopted modular concept, the loads and associated load response and the remote handling. A modular approach is adopted for the internal shielding modules as this helps to reduce the dominant electromagnetic loads, reduces interfaces and accelerates remote handling. Extensive use of gun-drilling is employed to produce water channels in the stainless steel plate and forgings used to construct the port plugs and modules. The French Nuclear Code RCC-MR (2007) is employed in the design and the manufacturing. An integrated remote handling scheme is described, including a description of maintenance operations in the Hot Cell Facility. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.