Measurement system for in-pile tritium monitoring from Li2TiO3 ceramics at WWRK reactor

A 220-day irradiation of Li2TiO3 ceramics with 96% enrichment of isotope Li-6 was carried out at WWRK reactor. One of the study goals was to examine tritium release behavior during Li burn-up. To achieve this goal three types of ceramics samples were examined simultaneously using a system for in-pile tritium monitoring: one (pebbles) - under constant temperature of 650 degrees C, and two (pebbles and pellets) - within temperature change ranges from 500 to 900 degrees C. Flows of tritium release from ceramics during the various reactor campaigns, as well as tritium generation rates for each ampoule are presented in the paper. The main result is justification of burn-up in Li-6 reaching up to 20% of Li2TiO3 ceramics. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.