MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES AND ANALYSIS FOR THE TITAN REVERSED-FIELD-PINCH REACTOR DESIGNS

The TITAN reactors are compact, high-neutron-wall-loading fusion power reactors based on the reversed-field-pinch confinement concept. The c ompact design of the TITAN fusion power core (FPC) reduces the system to a few small and relatively low-mass components, making the toroidal segmentation of the FPC unnecessary. Therefore, a ''single-piece'' FP C maintenance procedure, in which the first wall and the blanket are r emoved and replaced as a single unit, is possible. This unique approac h permits the complete FPC to be made of a few factory-fabricated piec es, assembled on site into a single torus, and tested to full operatio nal conditions before installation in the reactor vault. The low cost of the FPC means a complete, ''ready-for-operation'' unit can be kept on site for replacement in case of unscheduled events. All of these fe atures are expected to improve the plant availability. This paper desc ribes the plant layout for the TITAN reactors and their maintenance pr ocedures. A comparison between single-piece maintenance and modular ap proaches is also given. An important advantage of the single-piece mai ntenance approach, pretesting the FPC to full operational limit, is al so explored.