Function-Based Minimum Risk: Redesign of Robotic System in a Fusion Reactor

The conceptual design phase for a fusion power plant (FPP) remote maintenance system, for example, developing a robotic system working in extreme conditions, comprises the study of commercial tools and systems. Due to the extreme conditions, identified commercial systems need further development and derisking since they do not meet the operational requirements. To achieve this goal, we develop a risk-based function structure (RBFS) method to design for minimum risk at the conceptual design phase. First, the method was implemented to redesign an identified remote maintenance robot in the FPP reactor as a study case. Second, we constructed a simulation model to evaluate the performance of the design solution. This article will present the results, which show that risks are minimized satisfactorily with the new design approach.