Scientists claim that nuclear fusion can be achieved using different isotopes of light elements. However, two hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium, are considered the most effective nuclear fuel for fusion devices.
Notably, the limitless clean power generated from fusion devices could be a superior way to generate emission-free power.
A conventional coal-fired power plant with a capacity of 1000 MW requires 2.7 million tons of coal per year, and the process results in massive carbon emissions. While a fusion plant with the same output would only require 550 pounds (250 kg) of fuel per year, consisting of half deuterium and half tritium.
Deuterium, which can be distilled from all forms of water, is a widely available, harmless, and virtually inexhaustible resource. Deuterium is common: about 1 out of every 6,500 hydrogen atoms in seawater is in the form of deuterium.
On the other hand, tritium is a fast-decaying radioelement of hydrogen that occurs only in trace quantities in nature. Researchers claim that it’s formed naturally only in the upper atmosphere.
Tritium can be produced
Tritium can also be produced during the fusion reaction through contact with lithium. However, tritium is produced, or “bred,” when neutrons escaping the plasma interact with lithium contained in the blanket wall of the tokamak, according to scientists.
Tritium is claimed to be the most effective component for commercial fusion power generation. In this regard, German-based laboratory Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe has pioneered safe tritium handling and fuel cycle research .
Researchers state that the technical requirements and challenges associated with the tritium fuel cycle are largely unaffected by the choice of magnetic or inertial confinement.
Tritium must be injected into the reaction location
In any case, tritium must be stored, injected into the reaction location, and the exhaust gas – a complex mixture of unburned fuel, helium “ash,” other by-products, and many secondary impurities – must be processed efficiently.
In addition, an outer loop must be established where tritium, bred through the reaction of fusion-born neutrons with lithium, is purified and prepared for reinjection, according to Innovation News Network .
The company is developing permeation barrier concepts to reduce tritium migration.
The process will also help establish isotope separation systems for increasing the recycling factor of the tritium plant, offering tritium experimental rigs for full-tritium qualification of processes, components, and entire systems.
End-of-lifecycle solutions for tritium-facing components
The company is also developing end-of-lifecycle solutions for tritium-facing components to reduce contaminated waste.
TLK is establishing UV/ozone cleaning methods for the removal of large-area surface contamination and enable in-situ decontamination. In addition, the company is also studying decontamination by advanced vacuum furnace treatment .
With an area of 1600 m² and more than 20 individual glove-boxes, a large number of experiments are run in parallel, set up, and dismantled again. This is essential in a rapidly developing environment such as research with and on tritium. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino Experiment (KATRIN) has achieved worldwide visibility through its recent successes in direct neutrino mass measurement, according to the company .
It has been in operation at the TLK since 2018 and provides the world’s leading and recognized results on the upper limit of neutrino mass. This is mainly due to the gaseous windowless tritium source developed at TLK in combination with the TLK tritium infrastructure.
Until June 2024, more than 1000 days of tritium circulation with a total throughput of 31 kg of tritium (98.5% purity) were achieved, a feat unmatched by any other laboratory in the world.
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