Planning for maintenance in radiochemical facilities [Paper No.: VB-2]

Reprocessing facilities in the earlier stages of development were planned mainly based on the concept of direct maintenance in view of the inherent advantage of man-machine interface and initial savings in the investment costs. With the mechanical processes finding a firm place in head-end operation and increase in down time necessary for elaborate decontamination efforts even for a minor modification has led to the review of the concept. For the same reason, the recent plants are based on the concept of harmonious blend of both direct and remote maintenance. The paper describes the planning needed from consideration of various aspects related to such concepts of maintenance during different phases of such type of facilities, highlighting some of the tools and special equipments to be developed for this purpose. A brief description of recent development in the field of remote maintenance is also given. Though the basic hot facility of reference is the one of reprocessing fast reactor fuels, the concepts and systems discussed are equally applicable to other radiochemical and radiometallurgical facilities also. (author)