This article has been provided by Salvador Pacheco-Gutiérrez, head of technology at RAICo, with additional input from Nick Jones, head of decommissioning at JET Decommissioning and Repurposing (JDR).
Fusion decommissioning does not have the same problems as fission. Fusion machines will create far less radioactive waste, most of which is lower-level and shorter-lived.
Nonetheless, dismantling a fusion machine at its end-of-life – as is now happening at JET in Culham – is a complex task with many hazards, with many materials that need to be removed, taken apart, packaged, and stored with the utmost caution.
The nuclear industry knows a thing or two about these challenges. In particular, it has spent much time exploring how robots and AI can help deal with hazardous materials, whilst keeping humans out of harm’s way. Indeed, this UK robotics capability was highlighted in the recent UK fusion strategy as being a key enabler of fusion. As UK fusion starts its first decommissioning journey...