Steel detritiation, optimization of a process

In the framework of waste management for the ITER reactor, steel detritiation is an important challenge since nuclear waste storage already assigns and plans limited tritium contents. A study has been initiated to determine a detritiation process drawing on a melting process currently used on a semi-industrial scale at the CEA/DAM (Commissariat à lʹEnergie Atomique/Dı́rection des Applications Militaires). The first part of the project consists in characterizing these ingots. The measurements performed at the CNRS ORSAY (Centre National de Recherche Scientifique), permit to assess, by autoradiography, tritium distribution in two directions (longitudinal and transverse) and to measure tritium desorption using an original β counting device. The second part of the project should allow us to assess the possibility of improving the process in terms of detritiation rates using bubbling argon and hydrogen during melting to improve mixing, and thus facilitate the removal of tritium.