A~l REFERENCES R-l ACKNOWLEDGMENTS a SECTION I INTRODUCTION I. INTRODUCTION Lithium aluminate, LiA10 2 > is representative of a group of ceramics, called the "Solid Breeders/ , that are candidate materials for use as the tritium breeding medium in fusion reactors. In the past several years, a number of conceptual blanket designs for fusion reactors have used solid breeders, and the data base has been reviewed. Although the data base is limited, experimental programs are in progress and more results are becoming available.25-39 Tne so i±& breeders include Li 2 O, LiA10 2 , LL 2 Zr0 3 , Li^SiOjj, and Li 2 Si0 3 . The ternary oxides, in general, have much better chemical and thermophysical stability than Li 2 O, but owing to its high lithium atom density, Li 2 O has better tritium breeding potential. The TRIO experiment involved the irradiation of IAAIO2 in the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (ORR) under well-defined conditions of temperature, neutron flux, sweep gas flow, and sample configuration. Lithium aluminate was selected for the experiment because of its attractive properties (discussed later). Tritium, in its various chemical forms (and other gases evolved from the LiA10 2 during irradiation), was moved by a sweep gas to an analytical train in which measurements on the composition of the effluent were performed. 1-1 SECTION II PURPOSE II-l determine values of heat transfer coefficients and thermal conductivity of the LiA10 2 and to access the effects of radiation damage upon these values* (4) Measure tritium permeation through primary cladding. A measurable quantity of tritium may permeate through the primary cladding into the gas gap of the breeder capsule. This tritium which permeates will be collected and assayed. (5) Investigate the form of the tritium species (e.g., 'lyJrT, ratio) in the sweep gas stream. The amount of tritium released in each chemical form is to be quantitatively determined. (6) Establish the methodology for in-pile testing. This experiment is the first truly comprehensive test of in-situ tritium recovery from solid breeders. Thus, a methodology for this kind of test will be developed. (7) Measure radioactive species in the sweep gas stream. Certain impurities in the LiA10 2 (e .g., uranium, potassium, sodium, chlorine, etc.) produce volatile radionuclides during irradiation. These will be quantified to ensure that tritium monitoring is not affected. In addition, transport data on other species (mostly nobel gases), which may provide some insight into transport of helium, will be obtained.
