Operation Results and Technologies on the Safety Systems of the Tritium Process Laboratory at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.

Abstract

The Tritium Process Laboratory (TPL) at JAERI (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute) is the only facility in Japan using over 1 gram of tritium for fusion R&D. The TPL was constructed on 1984, and its safety systems have been operated since March 1988 (amount of tritium stored in TPL = 18 PBq at March 2002). The average tritium concentration in a stream from a stack of the TPL to the environment was 29 Bq/m ³ ; this is about 1/200 of the regulation value for HTO concentration in exhaust air. The obtained efficiency for tritium removal has been larger than the design values. A series of information for tritium safety technologies was thus obtained through the operations of the TPL. A set of failure data on several main components was also obtained through the operation results of the TPL. R&D for tritium safety technology (tritium accountancy, behavior, and decontamination) has been continued at the TPL.