SORBENT MATERIALS FOR FUSION-REACTOR TRITIUM PROCESSING

A fusion reactor (such as NET/ITER) which breeds its own tritium fuel requires tritium recovery, purification and separation from the other isotopes. Cyclic adsorption processes are strong candidates for severa l of the processes involved: amongst other advantages, they promise a low tritium inventory. A good adsorbent for such processes must have h igh adsorption capacity, high selectivity and very low tritium retenti on after each cycle. Pure zeolite powder is shown to have an excellent combination of these three properties. However, in practice problems can arise from tritium which is not removed by reactivation. Tn this p aper we show that tritium retention in zeolites can be caused either b y water retained in the zeolite structure, which can be removed by ore rigorous activation, or by water tapped on binders in commercial pell ets.