This paper presents results from the concept evaluation, experimental trials, and design of a water detritiation facility (WDF) for the JET fusion machine. The design is based on the combined electrolysis and catalytic exchange process and will allow construction of the plant and for its integration into the JET tritium plant in three stages.

The first stage includes a liquid phase catalytic exchange column and electrolyzer to concentrate the water into a smaller amount of tritium-enriched water. There would then be three options for dealing with this water: processing off-site, conversion to solid intermediate-level waste for disposal, and further processing on-site for complete tritium recovery. The latter option will require the second stage of implementation to integrate the WDF with the isotope separation system of the tritium plant. The third stage might be desirable to reduce the amount of time that the existing isotope separation system would need to be involved in the recovery of tritium from the WDF.