ENHANCED TRITIUM TRANSPORT AND RELEASE BY SOLIDS MODIFICATION

[摘要] In order to improve the tritium release characteristics of lithium ceramics, we are investigating the effects of dopants on tritium transport and release. Prior work has suggested a correlation between tritium and lithium diffusion in lithium-containing ceramics. This correlation has led us to propose a mechanism for tritium diffusion in which the tritium diffuses in the form of a lithium-vacancy/tritium complex. If this is the case, one should be able to increase the tritium diffusivity by increasing the number of lithium vacancies and thereby increasing the number of lithium-vacancy/tritium complexes. The size of the increase in the diffusivity, however, will be dependent upon several parameters, including the binding energy of the lithium-vacancy/tritium complex. Our calculations indicate that, under conditions comparable to those in some in-pile irradiation experiments, a binding energy of around 84 kJ/mol should increase the diffusivity and lead to a decrease in the steady-state tritium inventory by about a factor of six.

[发布日期] 1991-03-01