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Tritium (from Ancient Greek τρίτος (trítos) 'third') or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or 3 H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.3 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a triton) contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the common isotope hydrogen-1 (protium) contains one proton and no neutrons, and that of non-radioactive hydrogen ...
The tritium breeding blanket (also known as a fusion blanket, lithium blanket or simply blanket), is a key part of many proposed fusion reactor designs. It serves several purposes; primarily it is to produce (or "breed") further tritium fuel for the nuclear fusion reaction, which owing to the scarcity of tritium would not be available in sufficient quantities, through the reaction of neutrons ...
Spin-polarizing the fuel with a 63:37 D-T mix reduces the required tritium to 0.03 kg. With advancements in helium divertor pumping efficiency, TBE values of approximately 10%–40% could be achieved using low-tritium-fraction spin-polarized fuel with minimal power loss. This lowers tritium startup inventory requirements. [10]
Tritium, the fusion fuel in nuclear weapons, has a half-life of 12.3 years, which means it decays at 5.5% per year and must be renewed. The Watts Bar license amendment permits TVA to irradiate up to approximately 2,000 tritium-producing rods in the Watts Bar reactor. [17] TVA began irradiating tritium-producing rods at Unit 1 in the fall of 2003.
This is because any helium-3 in the weapon's tritium supply would act as a poison during the weapon's detonation, absorbing neutrons meant to collide with the nuclei of its fission fuel. [7] Tritium is relatively expensive to produce because each triton - the tritium nucleus - requires production of at least one free neutron, which is used to ...
ITER—the massive, proof-of-concept nuclear fusion reactor being built over the next ten years in the south of France—uses the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium. The names mean exactly ...
Tritium is generated in the fuel of all reactors; CANDU reactors generate tritium also in their coolant and moderator, due to neutron capture in heavy hydrogen. Some of this tritium escapes into containment and is generally recovered; a small percentage (about 1%) escapes containment and is considered a routine radioactive emission (also higher ...
Inside this is the fusion fuel, usually a form of lithium deuteride, which is used because it is easier to weaponize than liquefied tritium/deuterium gas. This dry fuel, when bombarded by neutrons, produces tritium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen that can undergo nuclear fusion, along with the deuterium present in the mixture.