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Remote-handling challenges in fusion research and beyond

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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.

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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.

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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

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  1. Rob Buckingham
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  2. Antony Loving
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Correspondence to Rob Buckingham or Antony Loving.

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

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