TRITIUM TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT UNDER 5-YEAR U.S.-JAPAN COLLABORATION AT TSTA

In 1987 the US Department of Energy (DOE) and th Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) signed collaborative aggrement for the joint operation and join funding of the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) for a five year period ending June 1992. The tritium research and development accomplished during this five year period has provided a very valuable data base for the fusion energy program. During the past year a number of significant experiments were completed and major programmatic milestones were met. This paper summarizes some of the major accomplishments during the initial five year collaboration. The integrated TSTA gas processing loop was operated continuously for 25 days. Both the JAERI fuel cleanup system and the original TSTA fuel cleanup system were operated under similar conditions of flow, pressure, and impurity content of the DT gas. The isotope separation system was operated continuously, using the recently installed laser Raman spectroscopy system for in situ analysis of the gas in the loop. Additional studies include studies on the interaction of tritium with sulfur hexaflouride, studies on the compatibility of cryosorption pump materials with tritium, and studies of tritium interaction with gaseous materials such as methane and deuterated methane.