Determining the Characteristics of the Tritium Diffusion in the Structural Material of the Liquid-Salt Reactor

The paper sets out the results of a study into the characteristics of tritium diffusion in the structural material of a liquid-salt reactor as represented by KhN80MTYu alloy. The studies were carried out using membrane and radioluminographic methods in the temperature range of 450–750°C. NP2 grade nickel was used as a reference material. KhN80MTYu alloy was established to have the significantly lower characteristics of the tritium diffusion as opposed to the pure nickel of the NP2 grade with no kinks in temperature dependencies. An exposure in the melt of ammonium bifluoride was established to increase the diffusion coefficient of tritium. This may mean that the action of the fuel salt melt on the wall during the reactor operation may accelerate the tritium diffusion.