Shut-down dose rate analyses for the ITER electron cyclotron-heating upper launcher

The electron cyclotron resonance heating upper launcher (ECHUL) is going to be installed in the upper port of the ITER tokamak thermonuclear fusion reactor for plasma mode stabilization (neoclassical tearing modes and the sawtooth instability). The paper reports the latest neutronic modeling and analyses which have been performed for the ITER reference front steering launcher design. It focuses on the port accessibility after reactor shut-down for which dose rate (SDDR) distributions on a fine regular mesh grid were calculated. The results are compared to those obtained for the ITER Dummy Upper Port. The calculations showed that the heterogeneous ECHUL design gives rise to enhanced radiation streaming as compared to the homogenous dummy upper port. Therefore the used launcher geometry was upgraded to a more recent development stage. The inter-comparison shows a significant improvement of the launchers shielding properties but also the necessity to further upgrade the shielding performance. Furthermore, the analysis for the homogenous dummy upper port, which represents optimal shielding inside the launcher, demonstrates that the shielding upgrade also needs to include the launcher's environment.