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An integral part of the fuel cycle of future fusion facilities is the isotope separation system (ISS). The Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) is currently developing a system to monitor the concentration of all six hydrogen isotopologues Q2 (H2, HD, D2, HT, DT, T2) in the liquid phase in the cryogenic distillation process of the ISS.Liquid inactive Q2 were already successfully analyzed under cryogenic conditions via infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy and calibration data for D2 is provided by previous experiments at TLK. The new experiment T2ApIR (Tritium Absorption Infrared Spectroscopy Experiment) is designed to be fully tritium compatible to perform a complete calibration of the IR absorption measurement system with all six hydrogen isotopologues in the liquid phase under conditions similar to the ISS. This provides a unique non-invasive, inline and real-time measurement system for isotopologic concentration determination, ready for implementation in the cryogenic distillation column.

By an international collaboration the KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino experiment KATRIN is currently being installed and commissioned at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the site selection that makes sure of the unique expertise and infrastructure of Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK). KATRIN requires a strong windowless gaseous source of almost pure molecular tritium (95%) and a throughput of 40 g tritium (1.5·1016 Bq) per day, stabilized to the 0.1% level. Since the last large components have been delivered in summer 2015, the collaboration is now focusing on the commissioning of the whole KATRIN experiment. A particular challenge is the commissioning with tritium, which will mark the point of no return regarding the contamination of the large magnet cryostats and tritium loop components. We have developed a 5-phase plan that covers all necessary work to be done for the safe and reliable standard tritium operation of KATRIN.

Originally licensed in 1993 the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) is a unique pilot scale isotope laboratory focused on tritium handling and processing to conduct a variety of scientific experiments and development tasks. In order to fulfil all requirements regarding the license, a framework of regulations is applied as a basis for the operation of TLK, as well as the setup of new experiments and the design of components. This paper will give an overview on the framework of operation in view of licensing issues, as well as administrative and technical regulations mandatory to legally and reliably operate an isotope laboratory of this scale.

At Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) calorimetry is used as the primary method for tritium accountability and for samples ranging from micrograms to tens of grams. An accuracy of 0.3% is achievabl...

At the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe stainless steel cross-piece ionization chambers have been used to measure the activity concentration of tritiated gases in experiments and processes for more than 10 years. New chambers with an optimized design in terms of the effective chamber volume were produced. Furthermore, they were gold and copper plated to determine the influence of the coatings on the signal and on the memory effect. A new chamber of the old design was built for direct comparison of the signals. The chambers were characterized with different helium-tritium mixtures in 8 runs and the ionisation current as a function of the static gas pressure was measured. When comparing the three new chambers, the gold chamber always showed the highest current, followed by the copper chamber. After exposing the chambers to ~13,100 TBq/m3, the memory effect was investigated by using a similar gas mixture of the earlier runs with ~1,500 TBq/m3. The gold chamber showed the highest memory effect, the copper...

This paper describes the tritium confinement concept and the tritium retention systems at TLK. A description of the AMOR facility for the regeneration of the HTO loaded molecular sieve beds and the operational experience gained from the regeneration of molecular sieve beds (up to 20 times each) is also presented. Finally tritium releases over this period to the environment will also be given. (authors)

The Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) has been designed to handle relevant amounts of tritium for the development of tritium technology for fusion reactors. This paper describes the tritium technology development and experience gained during the upgrade of facilities, interventions, replacement of failed components and operation of the TLK since its commissioning with tritium in 1994. (authors)

A high resolution thermoelectric vacuum calorimeter for tritium measurements is described in detail. The results and experience gained during the measurement of different tritium samples with the vacuum calorimeter as well as comparisons with measurements from other calorimeters are presented. Special specimens have been cut to fit within the measuring volume of 0.5 litre. With the low detection limit of the vacuum calorimeter, tritium in tiles can now be measured by calorimetry for the first time.

The Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) was commissioned with tritium in 1994 and since then has continuously improved its infrastructure and has expanded its experimental activities. With a fully closed tritium cycle and the license to handle 40 g of tritium TLK is an almost unique experimental facility. More than 10 glove box systems with a total volume of about 125 m 3 are operated to house experiments and infrastructure facilities on an area of more than 1000 m 2 . Today TLK has about 23 g of tritium on site. The paper describes the closed tritium loop of the TLK infrastructure and its links to different experiments. Some experience gained during operation of TLK is also presented.

The Tritium Storage facility of the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK), was recently upgraded by four additional uranium beds and one containing ZrCo. Now it is possible to compare under very similar conditions the sorption/desorption properties of uranium and those of ZrCo. To test the adequacy of ZrCo for routine, the getter was fully disproportionated repeatedly using either protium, deuterium or tritium. In all cases was it possible to completely restore the original sorption/desorption properties of the getter. In view of the needs of the Storage and Delivery System (SDS) of the ITER-FEAT Tritium Plant, i.e. delivery of T 2 90% - D 2 10% and pure D 2 to generate mixtures of various compositions, the isotope effects during sorption/desorption cycles of H-D and D-T mixtures in ZrCo granules have been investigated. A transportable storage vessel identical to those containing uranium presently used at TLK for the transport of tritium has been designed, build and filled with ZrCo. These beds fit into the highly sensitive calorimeters available at TLK. With these beds the tritium permanently trapped in U and ZrCo can be compared under similar operation conditions.

From the known getter materials proposed for the storage, supply, and recovery of hydrogen isotopes the interalloy ZrCo was selected by the international thermonuclear experimental reactors (ITER) team because it has very similar properties to uranium and is more acceptable for Regulatory Agencies. The only known drawback of ZrCo is its potential of loosing the ability to reversibly absorb or desorb tritium during prolonged thermal cycling. Under these conditions, the getter hydride ZrCoHx (x≤3), tends to disproportionate yielding the more stable hydride ZrH2, which is associated with performance degradation in the gettering properties. In this paper, previous studies on the rate of hydrogen induced disproportionation/reproportionation of ZrCo were extended to a broader temperature range. In addition, comparative measurements were performed with protium and deuterium with the aim of determining possible isotope effect. On the basis of the structural modifications that samples undergo during hydrogenation a qualitative explanation is given for the disproportionation mechanism.

This paper presents the summary of the activities related to data collection on the operating experiences gained in the Joint European Torus (JET) for the Vacuum and Active Gas Handling Systems and in the Tritium Laboratory of Karlsruhe (TLK). Failures/malfunctions, including information on failure modes and, where possible, causes and consequences of the failures, have been identified, as well as, whole sets of components, which the failures/malfunctions are related to. Reference components installed in the plant/facility have been classified and counted in order to find out their amount, related operating hours and/or related demands to operate. Main reliability parameters, (such as the failure rate and the corresponding standard errors and confidence intervals), associated to the components have been estimated.

The Gas chromatographic Isotope Separation System (ISS) of the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) is in operation with tritium since 1995. The first test runs with up to 3.7×1012 Bq of HT–DT mixtures revealed the need for modifications and improvements in the areas of process conduction and tritium detection. Upon completion and verification of the improvements by appropriate performance tests, the ISS was taken into routine operation. Until early 1997, approximately 2000 l of hydrogen isotopes with an activity of 2.2×1014 Bq tritium have been processed. The H2 and HD fractions released to the Central Tritium Retention System of the TLK contained less than 1010 Bq m−3 of tritium. Protium was isolated by several consecutive isotopic scrambling/isotopic separation steps and released to the Central Tritium Retention System of the TLK. Deuterium/tritium fractions containing less than 0.1% of protium were sent back to the infrastructure of the TLK.