Tritiated Water Processing for Fusion Reactors

Tritiated water represents a source of occupational exposure and environmental emissions for fusion and fission reactors. Fusion reactors must operate within stringent radionuclide emission limits.

A range of tritiated water concentrations can be generated in fusion reactors, mostly in the form of tritiated light water. In contrast, tritium removal plants have been built in Canada and France to remove tritium from heavy water moderated fission reactors.

Various isotope separation processes have been developed to remove tritium from light and heavy water. Appropriate process selection depends, amongst other items, on whether tritium is to be removed from light or heavy water, and on whether the detritiated water is recycled back to a process system or is discharged to the environment.

This paper primarily discusses water detritiation requirements in fusion reactors and outlines process options that are suitable for meeting these requirements.