Speaker
Description
At the heart of the ISIS Neutron and muon source are two target stations. Each target station uses a 25 metre long trolley system to transfer the Target Reflector and Moderator assembly from its operational position in the centre of the target station monolith, to a hot cell for maintenance. This approach reduces the duration of maintenance shutdowns and avoids the need to dismantle shielding and plant equipment to access critical components.
In July 2025, after over 40 years of operation, the Target Station one trolley system, weighing 400 tonnes, became jammed partway between the operating and maintenance positions, preventing operation of the Target Station.
This presentation describes the story of overcoming the engineering challenges of a recovery operation which had never been tried before in the history of ISIS. It will detail the rapid response to design, test and deploy tooling to remotely remove the obstruction, and will discuss some of the key challenges faced; being out of reach and visibility of the hot cell, limited crane coverage, narrow one-meter square aperture for importing all equipment into the cell, necessity to be controlled with remote manipulators.