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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Fusion Science and Technology
October 2025
Latest News
Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
M. J. Quinlan, W. T. Shmayda, S. Lim, S. Salnikov, Z. Chambers, E. Pollock, W. U. Schröder
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 2 | August 2008 | Pages 519-522
Technical Paper | Materials Interactions | doi.org/10.13182/FST54-519
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Tritiated stainless steel was subjected to thermal desorption at various temperatures, different temperature profiles, and in the presence of different helium carrier gas additives. In all cases the identities of the desorbing tritiated species were characterized as either watersoluble or insoluble. The samples were found to contain 1.1 mCi±0.4 mCi. Approximately ninety-five percent of this activity was released in molecular water-soluble form. Additives of H2O or H2O2 to dry helium carrier gas increase the desorption rate and lower the maximum temperature to which the sample must be heated, in order to remove the bulk of the tritium. The measurements validate a method of decontamination of tritiated steel and suggest a technique that can be used to further explore the mechanisms of desorption from tritiated metals.