Tritium Research and Development Status at KAERI

Korea has 26 nuclear power plants (NPPs). Out of these 26 plants, 4 are Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors at the Wolsong nuclear power site. In CANDU reactors, deuterium oxide is used as a moderator/coolant, and tritium is produced whenever a deuterium oxide nucleus captures a neutron. The Wolsong Tritium Removal Facility was designed to remove tritium generated in CANDU reactors. We are introducing tritium environmental protection not only at the Wolsong NPP but also at the High-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) and in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs). We present a tritium behavior analysis code and assess the concentration of tritium in combustible dry active waste. Advanced techniques are introduced to transfer tritium from tritiated water to the gaseous phase. In addition, research on the nuclear fusion tritium storage and delivery system, which is part of the fuel cycle, has been carried out. In this paper, we present the recent progress in the effort to develop tritium systems at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.