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Fusion Science and Technology
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Playing the “bad guy” to enhance next-generation safety
Sometimes, cops and robbers is more than just a kid’s game. At the Department of Energy’s national laboratories, researchers are channeling their inner saboteurs to discover vulnerabilities in next-generation nuclear reactors, making sure that they’re as safe as possible before they’re even constructed.
G. C. Staack, K. L. Shanahan, R. T. Walters, R. D. Pilgrim
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 1 | July 2008 | Pages 85-88
Technical Paper | Storage | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1770
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Metal hydrides, specifically Pd deposited on kieselguhr (Pd/k) and LaNi4.25Al0.75 (LANA.75), have been used at the Savannah River Site for almost twenty years for hydrogen isotope separation and storage. Radiolytic decay of tritium to helium-3 in the metal matrix causes three classic changes in the performance of the hydride: the plateau pressure decreases, the plateau slope increases, and a heel forms, reducing the reversible capacity of the hydride. Deuterium and tritium isotherms were collected on the virgin materials, only tritium isotherms were collected at approximately 2 years, and both deuterium and tritium isotherms were collected at approximately 3.5 years of quiescent aging at 26°C. Each sample was loaded to 0.5-0.6 T/M prior to each aging period. Points of interest include comparisons of each sample at different aging periods and isotope effects on aged hydride isotherms. Partial restoration of thermodynamic properties by sample cycling has been observed in LANA.75, though not previously reported in Pd. The methods and results are presented.