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EDFA, as part of the Power Plant Physics and Technology programme, has been working on the preconceptual design of a Demonstration Power Plant (DEMO). As part of this programme, a review of the remote maintenance strategy considered maintenance solutions compatible with expected environmental conditions, whilst showing potential for meeting the plant availability targets. A key finding was that, for practical purposes, the expected radiation levels prohibit the use of complex remote handling operations to replace the first wall. In 2012/13, these remote maintenance activities were further extended, providing an insight into the requirements, constraints and challenges. In particular, the assessment of blanket and divertor maintenance, in light of the expected radiation conditions and availability, has elaborated the need for a very different approach from that of ITER. This activity has produced some very informative virtual reality simulations of the blanket segments and pipe removal that are exceptionally valuable in communicating the complexity and scale of the required operations. Through these simulations, estimates of the maintenance task durations have been possible demonstrating that a full replacement of the blankets within 6 months could be achieved. The design of the first wall, including the need to use sacrificial limiters must still be investigated. In support of the maintenance operations, a first indication of the requirements of an Active Maintenance Facility (AMF) has been elaborated.

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The erosion and high neutron flux in a fusion power plant results in the need for frequent remote replacement of the plasma facing components. This is a complex and time consuming remote handling operation and its duration directly affects the availability and therefore the commercial viability of the power plant.A tool is needed to allow the maintenance duration to be determined so that developments in component design can be assessed in terms of their effect on the maintenance duration. This allows the correct balance to be drawn between component cost and performance on the one hand and the remote handling cost and plant availability on the other.The work to develop this tool has begun with an estimate of the maintenance duration for a fusion power plant based on the EFDA DEMO WP12 pre-conceptual design studies [1]. The estimate can be readily adjusted for changes to the remote maintenance process resulting from design changes. The estimate uses data extrapolated from recorded times and operational experience from remote maintenance activities on the JET tokamak and other nuclear facilities.The Power Plant Conceptual Study from 2005 [2] proposes that commercial viability of a power plant would require an availability of 75% or above. Results from the maintenance estimate described in this paper suggest that this level of availability could be achieved for the planned maintenance using a highly developed and tested remote maintenance system, with a large element of parallel working and challenging but feasible operation times.