ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Jun 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
July 2026
Nuclear Technology
June 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
May 2026
Latest News
Japan could replace up to 14 reactors by the 2050s under new proposal
Japan will need to replace as many as 14 of its nuclear reactors by the 2050s in order to meet its future energy demands, a recently released draft policy proposal states.
Wenqing Wu, Yongjun Wei, Jingwen Ba, Yan Shi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 81-85
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13340
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Protium-deuterium isotope separation and tritium enrichment experiments have been carried out under the condition of a total reflux cycle using a continuous twin-bed hydrogen isotope separation technique, i.e., a twin-bed periodically counter-current flow technique. Two beds were packed with Pd and LaNi4.7Al0.3, which show positive and inverse isotope effects, respectively. The separation efficiency was studied experimentally in terms of stoichiometry between hydrogen and adsorbents, cycles, and extraction ratio. The experimental results show that a steady distribution of hydrogen isotopes along the axial direction can be obtained within an operating period of three cycles and a 10% extraction ratio at a moderate H/Pd atomic ratio. The results of a tritium enrichment experiment carried out under optimized conditions indicate that good enrichment efficiency is possible using this method to separate a three-component gas when the extraction ratio is kept small. Since the column used in this experiment is relatively short, there is great potential for this method for meeting the requirements of large-scale operations if long columns or multi-bed combined systems are employed.