Investigation of Low-Level Tritium Generation in Ni-H₂O Electrolytic Cells

The generation of tritium during the electrolysis of aqueous light water alkali carbonate (K₂CO₃ and Li₂CO₃) solutions by nickel cathodes, first reported by us at the International Conference on Cold Fusion-3 (Nagoya, Japan, October 1992) has once again been verified and confirmed. During 1993, 10 out of 23 cells, whose electrolytes were analyzed using a newly set up dedicated liquid scintillation counting unit, indicated low tritium levels in the electrolyte, in the range of 0.5 to 4.8 Bq/ml. Except one cell, which contained 25% D₂O, the remaining nine cells, which produced tritium, were charged with natural light water solutions only. Two of these cells, which were monitored for tritium every few days, and excluding cell OM-3, which was set up in 1992, indicated tritium level variations in a sawtooth fashion, suggesting the possible presence of an as yet unidentified mechanism responsible for periodically removing tritium from the electrolyte.