Tritium Storage and Getters
Tritium is stored on metal-hydride getter beds that absorb it as a solid hydride and release it on heating — the safe, dense way to hold the fuel.
Holding a gas as a solid
Storing tritium as a compressed gas is undesirable: it is a mobile radiological hazard and it permeates hot metal. Instead, tritium is stored on getter beds — metals such as uranium or a titanium/zirconium alloy that absorb hydrogen isotopes chemically, forming a stable metal hydride at room temperature and releasing the gas when heated.
This gives dense, low-pressure storage that is intrinsically safer: at rest the tritium is locked in a solid, and it is liberated only by deliberate heating. Getter beds serve as both the storage reservoir and the metered delivery system that feeds tritium back to fueling on demand.
Why getters suit a foundry
- Low-pressure, solid-bound storage reduces leak and permeation risk
- Reversible: absorb when cool, release when hot
- Meterable delivery for fueling and for shipping
- Compatible with accountancy — bed inventory can be assayed
Helium-3 in the beds
Because stored tritium decays, helium-3 accumulates within the getter beds over time. Helium-3 is not absorbed by the getter, so it collects as a gas and is periodically pumped off and collected — the storage system is also a helium-3 harvest point. Bed design and cycling therefore influence both product streams and are part of the design-and-simulation program.
This page describes a design-and-simulation study, not a built machine. Construction begins Q2 2027; first-of-a-kind (FOAK) first tritium is targeted near 2030. No net-gain claim is made before FOAK.