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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
Robert H. Hsu, James E. Klein
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 48 | Number 1 | July-August 2005 | Pages 83-87
Technical Paper | Tritium Science and Technology - Tritium Processing, Transportation, and Storage | doi.org/10.13182/FST48-83
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Palladium finely dispersed in a substrate of kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) has been successfully used for tritium storage, separation and pumping for a number of years at the Savannah River Site (SRS). Recently SRS has designed and built a new Pd/kieselguhr flow through bed (FTB) prototype for separating tritium from other gases and simultaneously storing the tritium on palladium. The FTB prototype uses single-pass liquid nitrogen for cooling during tritium absorption/loading/storage and electrical heaters for desorption/unloading of tritium. Fourteen (14) hydrogen absorption/desorption or loading/unloading cycles have been conducted with the new FTB prototype. Test results show that all design performance objectives have been successfully achieved: recover >95% of hydrogen gas from feed gas, <5% hydrogen in discharge gas, and >99.9% hydrogen in the desorbed product gas. This paper will discuss the design and operation of the FTB, and results of performance tests such as separation efficiency, hydrogen/tritium storage capacity and temperature profiles during prep cooling, hydrogen loading and unloading.