OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE TRITIUM PURIFICATION SYSTEM

The Tritium Purification System (TPS) is a hydrogen isotope separation system put into operation within the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFT R) Tritium Systems. The TPS operates in two stages: extraction of hydr ogen isotopes from the TFTR plasma waste effluents via a Palladium/Sil ver diffuser; and separation of hydrogen isotopes via a multiple-stage cryogenic distillation system. Commissioning of TPS included: Operati onal testing at Canadian Fusion Fuels Technology Project (CFFTP) and a t Princeton, thorough helium and tritium leakchecks, trial run with a limited tritium inventory (1 kCi), and an integrated systems test usin g 10 kCi of tritium. The integrated systems test, which was started in April of 1995 took approximately eight months to perform. Several ''i nfant mortality'' failures, requiring numerous line breaks into highly contaminated piping, were safely performed. On December 18, 1995 the TPS delivered its first batch of purified tritium product. This paper provides a brief overview of the TPS design and theory of operation. T he focus of this paper is the commissioning, operation, performance an d maintenance of the device. Lessons learned in maintenance and repair of the TPS ate also addressed.