Construction of a Test Facility and the Test of an Active Tritium Permeation Barrier

Abstract

In future fusion or fission reactors, tritium permeation may present a serious challenge. In order to separate the water steam cycle from gas streams containing significant amounts of tritium, a permeation barrier is necessary. Tritium permeation into the environment through steam generators and heat exchangers can be a significant hazard regarding radiation and environmental safety. In the scope of the project TRANSversal Actions for Tritium (TRANSAT), a facility has been set up to perform tests on various scaled and functioning permeation barrier mock-ups at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK). The facility was built in a standard glove-box unit in accordance to the technical terms and requirements of tritium handling at TLK. The behavior of an active permeation barrier was investigated. Within the first series of TRANSAT experiments, four different mock-ups have been tested for tritium permeation. Migrated tritium is oxidized to tritiated water (HTO) using Carulite reactors and molecular sieves for HTO trapping. This paper will present the construction, setup, and commissioning of the facility as well as the first series of TRANSAT experiments including their evaluation.