PNNL

Abstract

The TMIST-2 irradiation experiment was conducted in the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory to evaluate tritium permeation through Type 316 stainless steel (316 SS). The interior of a 316 SS seamless tube specimen was exposed to a 4He carrier gas mixed with a specified quantity of tritium (T2) to yield partial pressures of 0.1, 5, and 50 Pa at 292° and 330°C. In-situ tritium permeation measurements were made by passing a He-Ne sweep gas over the outer surface of the specimen to carry the permeated tritium to a bubbler column for liquid scintillation counting. An irradiation enhancement factor (IEF) was determined by comparing in-situ permeation data with a correlation for ex-reactor hydrogen permeation through austenitic stainless steel developed from literature data and reported by Le Claire. Nominal values for the IEF ranged between 3 and 5 for 316 SS. In-situ permeation data were also used to derive an in-reactor permeation correlation as a function of temperature and pressure. In addition, the triton recoil contribution to tritium permeation, which results from the transmutation of 3He to T, was also evaluated by introducing a 4He carrier gas mixed with 3He at a partial pressure of 1013 Pa at 330°C. Less than 3% of the tritium resulting from 3He transmutation contributed to tritium permeation.