Apparatus for Studying Tritium Recovery from Hard Waste

Detriation studies are critical for assessing the feasibility and costs of the ITER disposal plan for tritiated waste. A flexible apparatus has been commissioned for studying the detritiation of hard waste samples, by heating, melting, or dissolving them in molten metal. It is installed in a new laboratory approved for the simultaneous handling of tritium and beryllium. R.F. heating means the specimen temperature is limited only by the crucible material. A filter confines beryllium contamination to the silica glass specimen tube. There is independent control of carrier gas flow rate and pressure at any value between 10⁻⁷ mbar and 1 bar. All tubing is warmed to allow the use of wet carrier gases, and to reduce tritium memory. No organic materials are used. A specially constructed low-memory bakable ionization chamber and all-glass bubbler-set enable sensitive measurements of the tritium outgassing with minimised memory effects.