Calculation of the Tritium Distribution in the MSRE
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Calculations indicated that tritium generated in the MSRE could be expected to be present in amounts up to 15% in the cooling air leaving the radiator tubes, greater than 50% in the off-gas from the fuel pump, and up to 40% in the reactor cell. These calculations were biased on conventional mass transfer and diffusion equations and made use of constants obtained from the technical literature or calculated by conventional methods. The distribution measured at the MSRE was in reasonable agreement with the calculation except for the much smaller quantity of tritium found in the reactor cell. This difference might have been caused by the enclosures around the pipes and vessels. The slow flow of air through the enclosures and over the surfaces of the equipment could have permitted the tritium concentrations at the surfaces to build up to levels that would greatly retard the transport of tritium through the metal walls. The difference might also have been caused by the oxide films on the metal surfaces. The calculations further indicated that the graphite in the reactor core and the metal in the fuel-salt and coolant-salt systems could have been reservoirs for the tritium that persisted in the reactor long after shutdown. In spite of the agreement there are large uncertainties that probably can only be resolved by good experimental measurements of some of the constants used in the calculations.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1524611
- Report Number(s):
- CF-70-7-13
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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