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Fusion Science and Technology
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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
O. A. Griesbach, J. R. Stencel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 14 | Number 2 | September 1988 | Pages 1199-1202
Tritium Release Experiment | doi.org/10.13182/FST88-A25302
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An international tritium model validation experiment was held at Chalk River, Canada, during June 1987. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) Differential Atmospheric Tritium Sampler (DATS) was one of the many types of tritium samplers used for this experiment. Besides the modeling data that were produced from this experiment, we learned how well our tritium samplers performed when a known tritium quantity was released. The DATS were set up at 50, 100, 200, and 400 meters downwind from the release point. Data were collected during the release period and for the next 24 hours. While the units worked very well in the field, valued operational experience was gained in the recovery of the tritium from the silica gel. Because of delays in the analysis of the collected samples, it became difficult to recover the HTO fraction quantitatively. Indications are that molecular sieve is more suitable for samples which are not going to be processed immediately. This paper reports on the field set up, the measurement results, and operational experience in the use of the DATS.
