Design layout and maintenance of the ARIES-III tokamak reactor

The direct integration activities of the ARIES-III reactor study have resulted in a reactor component layout that minimizes the number of vacuum-vessel penetrations and the number of connect/disconnects, and allows divertor target maintenance without affecting other components. A bifurcated divertor pumping duct at the bottom of the machine serves as an access port to the lower divertor plate and also provides adequate room for performing connect/disconnect actions on the inboard and outboard shield modules. The upper divertor-plate piping network is elevated above the inboard shield, which gives access to any in-vessel component. Minor first-wall recoating can be performed in situ using remote-controlled plasma-spray equipment already in service. Access to the vacuum vessel form the top requires lifting the upper two poloidal-field coils with their cryostat and support structure.<>