St 737 for Tritium Service: An Experimental Evaluation

Tritium storage is conveniently and safely achieved through the use of metal hydrides. Over the last few decades uranium has become a very common tritium storage medium because of its excellent functional characteristics. Despite these desirable attributes uranium is receiving some reluctance in its acceptance by the fusion community in part because it is a nuclear material and in part because sub-micronic uranium particulate invariably contaminates the process system. This paper reports on the suitability of Zr(V_0.5Fe_0.5)₂ alloy for tritium storage and its potential as an alternative to uranium.