Remote handling maintenance of beam dump in IFMIF-DONES

IFMIF-DONES aims at providing high-energy deuterons to produce a neutron flux to test materials. The accelerator stops the pulsed beam at a low duty cycle in the Beam Dump, which is a relevant component of the High Energy Beam Transport line. The cartridge of the Beam Dump absorbs a beam of charged particles during DONES accelerator commissioning and start-up phases after a shutdown. The cartridge is contained for security reasons in a shielding given its high activation, which remains for a long time. Deterioration of this component is due to heating cycles, radiation and corrosion caused by the cartridge cooling water. Thereby, Beam Dump has been classified as 3rd class Remote Handling component. It means that there is no scheduled maintenance for this component, but Remote Handling operations are required in case of failure. Remote equipment is mandatory when the Beam Dump shielding is open due to the high radiation levels. This work presents the maintenance operations to replace the Beam Dump cartridge. It includes the sequence and description of the procedures, equipment and tools necessary to meet the project requirements.

Automated summary

The IFMIF-DONES project aims to test materials using high-energy deuterons to produce a neutron flux. The Beam Dump cartridge absorbs charged particle beams after shutdown, requiring remote handling due to high activation and radiation levels.