Investigation of tritium and helium generation and release from tin-lithium alloy under neutron irradiation
Ponkratov Y. Gordienko Y. Baklanov V. Tulubayev Y. Koyanbayev Y. Bochkov V. Saparbek E.
September 2025Elsevier B.V.
Journal of Nuclear Materials
2025#615
The use of tin-lithium alloys in next-generation energy systems appears promising, however, existing literature on this topic remains limited. Further research is needed to investigate the processes of tritium and helium generation and release from the alloy under neutron irradiation conditions. The study presents experimental results on investigation of the processes of generation and release of tritium and helium from a tin-lithium alloy sample irradiated at temperatures ranging from 150 °C to 600 °C under irradiation conditions of a nuclear reactor. An experimental ampoule device (AD) was developed to contain a Sn–Li sample during irradiation. A research sample with a composition of Sn 73 at. % - Li 27 at. % was fabricated for exposure to high-density neutron fluxes up to 1.5·1014 n/(cm2·s). The irradiation experiments were conducted at the IVG.1 M research nuclear reactor (Kurchatov, Kazakhstan). The paper also describes the experimental methodology and procedures of reactor experiments in detail. As a result of the experiments, time dependences of tritium and helium fluxes from the sample were obtained. These species are generated via the nuclear reaction of thermal neutrons with the isotope 6Li during irradiation. The reactor power level of 1 MW, 3 MW and 6 MW were used, with the maximum thermal neutron flux density of 1.5·1014 n/(cm2∙s). The obtained experimental data were processed and analyzed to determine key parameters of tritium behavior in the alloy, including the generation rate, effective tritium release coefficient, diffusion coefficient, diffusion coefficient pre-exponent, Sieverts constant (solubility), and activation energy.
desorption , helium , lithium , neutron irradiation , nuclear reactor , tin-lithium alloy , Tritium
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Institute of Atomic Energy Branch of NNC RK, Kurchatov, Kazakhstan
Institute of Atomic Energy Branch of NNC RK
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
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