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Title: First-principles Studies of Tritium Reactivity and Diffusivity on Defective and Carbon Doped Surfaces of $$\gamma$$-LiAlO2 Pellets (Tritium Science Program Report FY 2019 )

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1763716· OSTI ID:1763716
 [1];  [1]
  1. National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)

In tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs), tritium ($$^{3}_{1}$$H,T) is produced in 6Li isotope enriched γ-LiAlO2 ceramic pellet. However, a better understanding of $$^{3}_{1}$$H transport through the pellets, getters and the barrier/cladding system is hampered by a lack of fundamental data about the $$^{3}_{1}$$H solubility and diffusivity. In the process of $$^{3}_{1}$$H diffusion from bulk γ-LiAlO2 to its surface, it is possible that $$^{3}_{1}$$H atoms bind with surface atoms or become trapped at vacancies sites. By increasing the number of $$^{3}_{1}$$H diffused from bulk to surface, upon recombination and desorption from surface sites, they will escape from the γ-LiAlO2 surface to form different $$^{3}_{1}$$H species (possibly being as T, T2, T2O, OT, or CTx (x=1-4, with C impurity present at a 100-600 ppm level in pellets) that need to be identified and can become captured by the getter. Therefore, exploring the $$^{3}_{1}$$H diffusion from bulk to surface, corroborated with surface adsorption, diffusion and recombination and followed by desorption from surface as various types of $$^{3}_{1}$$H species becomes a very important task as an integral part of the study of $$^{3}_{1}$$H solubility and diffusivity in the pellets.

Research Organization:
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
OSTI ID:
1763716
Report Number(s):
NETL-PUB-22753; TRN: US2215089
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English