Development and modeling of a remote handling maintenance procedure for the IFMIF-DONES high flux test module electrical connectors bridge

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility-DEMO Oriented Neutron Source (IFMIF-DONES) is an advanced linear accelerator designed to produce high-intensity neutron fluxes for analyzing materials under conditions similar to the DEMO fusion reactor. It accelerates a deuteron beam onto a liquid lithium target, generating a neutron flux with a peak energy of 14 MeV, which then interacts with specimens in the High Flux Test Module (HFTM). Due to the significant neutron activation, the Test Cell necessitates remote handling for maintenance, requiring custom-designed components. The maintenance procedures for these components must be developed, tested, and analyzed ex-novo. The HFTM electrical connectors bridge, previously validated, can be employed as a helpful test benchmark for studying and improving the maintenance procedure development and simulation methodology. This paper details the development, simulation, and verification of a remote handling maintenance procedure for the HFTM electrical connectors bridge. The procedure was developed using functional analysis and simulated with Petri nets in the Modelica simulation language, offering a clear visualization of each step and valuable metrics like total maintenance time and time required per operation. Simulations highlighted optimization opportunities, particularly in alignment procedures. The experimental activities were carried out at the Divertor Refurbishment Platform (DRP) laboratory of ENEA C.R. Brasimone. These confirmed the predicted criticalities from the functional analysis and aligned with the Petri net simulation results. The experimental analysis yielded positive results, where the possible optimizations to the alignment system found by the Petri nets were tested and verified.