Tritium contamination experience in an operational D-T fusion reactor
- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Plasma Physics Lab.
- Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); and others
During December 1993, the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) injected a mixture of deuterium and tritium in the TFTR vacuum vessel for the purpose of creating D-T plasmas. The tritium used in these D-T plasmas was stored, delivered and processed in the TFTR tritium facility that includes the tritium vault, waste handling area, clean-up area, and gas holding tank room. During this time period, several components in the tritium process system were found to have tritium leaks which led to tritium deposition on process skids, components and floor area. Radiological surveys of surfaces contaminated with tritium oxide indicate a decrease in surface contamination in time (on the order of 12 to 36 hours) as the result of room ventilation. In instances where the facility HVAC system was maintained in the purge mode, a dramatic decrease in surface contamination was observed. Areas contaminated with tritium oxide (> 16.6 Bq/100 cm{sup 2}) were found to be clean (< 16.6 Bq/100 cm{sub 2}) after several hours of continuous purging by the facility HVAC system. In instances where relative humidity was not decreased, the tritium surface contamination was found to be attenuated. During the months of December 1993, January and February 1994 tritium leaking components were either replaced, redesigned or repaired. During this time period, data were collected in the form of contamination surveys, real time tritium monitor output, and HVAC configuration indicating the correlation of purge ventilation leading to a decrease in tritium oxide surface contamination.
- Research Organization:
- Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Plasma Physics Lab.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH03073
- OSTI ID:
- 10179994
- Report Number(s):
- PPPL-CFP-3150; CONF-940843-3; ON: DE94018341
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 18. European symposium on fusion technology (SOFT-18),Karlsruhe (Germany),22-26 Aug 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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