EPICS application for ITER RH supervisory control system

Abstract The purpose of the Remote Handling System is to carry-out remote maintenance of the ITER machine and components where the environment radiation levels are greater than 100 μSv/hr. The general approach to the remote maintenance operations is to remove components from the ITER machine and to replace with new or refurbished components. The refurbishment and waste processing operations take place in the Hot-Cell, also using the RH System. Remote maintenance operations are man-in-the-loop. Trained RH operators, using specialized interfaces to remotely operated RH equipment, carry-out a maintenance activity in the hazardous location. A dedicated suite of control rooms, located in the Personnel Access Control Building (B24), is used to control the RH operations in the Tokamak and Hot-Cell. The Remote Handling (RH) Supervisory Control System provides the basic control infrastructure to integrate the RH equipment systems into a single ITER Plant System operating from the RH control room(s) under the authority of the ITER central control system. The RH Supervisory Control System (RHSCS) has six relatively independent sub-systems fulfilling three major functions: a) to provide basic control infrastructure of the RH maintenance system; b) to support central monitoring and coordination of RH maintenance activities; c) to support management of RH maintenance campaigns. The RHSCS, currently in Final Design phase, comprehends the RH Plant Controller System (RHPC), responsible to provide the functionalities to control RH plant activities at a level suitable for coordination with other ITER activities. This sub-system, developed using the EPICS framework, will allow the connection between the main control room (MCR) and the RH Plant Controller. The system implements the EPICS Channel Access Protocol and it uses a set of process variable to communicate RH Plant System operating states and ITER rooms states between MCR and RH System via CODAC interface. Behind the simple approach based on the HMI created in BOY, the sub-system implements a mechanism to allow the flow-down and application of MCR work program to the RH System.