TSTA piping and flame arrestor operating experience data

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t s• Experiences from the Tritium Systems Test Assembly were examined.• Failure rates of copper piping and a flame arrestor were calculated.• The calculated failure rates compared well to similar data from the literature.• Tritium component failure rate data support fusion safety assessment. a b s t r a c tThe Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) was a facility dedicated to tritium handling technology and experiment research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The facility was operated with tritium for its research and development program from 1984 to 2001, running a prototype fusion fuel processing loop with ∼100 g of tritium as well as small experiments. There have been several operating experience reports written on this facility's operation and maintenance experience. This paper describes reliability analysis of two additional components from TSTA, small diameter copper gas piping that handled tritium in a nitrogen carrier gas, and the flame arrestor used in this piping system. The component failure rates for these components are discussed in this paper. Comparison data from other applications are also presented.