Analysis of tritium production in a 2 MW liquid-fueled molten salt experimental reactor and its environmental impact

Abstract

Tritium release is one of the most concerning topics in nuclear power plants. Here, the tritium production in a 2 MW liquid-fueled molten salt experimental reactor (TMSR-LF1) was calculated by ORIGEN-S with an updated cross-section library generated by TRITON in SCALE 6.1.3 code system. The results show that the tritium production rate and normalized tritium production rate of TMSR-LF1 are 8.90 × 1011 Bq/day and 4.45 × 1011 Bq/(MW day), respectively. The environmental impact of tritium was analyzed via PC-CREAM 08 with an assumed 36 % release rate of tritium referring to the molten salt reactor experiment. During normal operations, the maximum tritium concentration is 1.4 Bq/m3 under normal condition, and the corresponding individual dose to the public is about 1 μSv/a; under extreme conditions, the maximum concentration and corresponding individual doses are 11.8 Bq/m3 and 9 μSv/a, respectively. Ingestion is the main exposure pathway and accounts for 62 % of the total dose. Of this, 35 % is from organically bound tritium.