A liquid tritium target

An experimental setup comprising a thermostat with a liquid-helium-cooled 3 0-cm(3) liquid tritium target (LTT) is described. The LTT setup was designe d and constructed for systematic investigations of muon-catalyzed fusion (M CF) processes in a liquid hydrogen isotope (H-D-T) mixture. The LTT is main tained at a temperature of 22 K controlled to within an accuracy of 0.1 K. The target is sufficiently compact (outer diameter 40 mm) to provide for th e detection of MCF products (neutrons due to dt-fusion, electrons from muon decay) in the 4 pi geometry. The LTT design satisfies very stringent requi rements to ensure safe operation with tritium activities as high as 10 kCi. The setup is provided with two stages of protection against any possible p ath for the accidental tritium leak into the atmosphere.