Components & Hardware
Tritium Extraction Unit
The system that recovers bred tritium from the blanket.
- Role
- Tritium recovery
- Relevance
- Licensing
Tritium bred in the blanket must be extracted, purified and returned to the fuel cycle. The extraction system, with permeation control and accountancy, is a licensing-relevant part of the breeder.
Common questions
What does the tritium extraction unit do?
It removes and purifies the tritium bred in the breeder's blanket so it can be accounted for and re-injected as fuel — the recovery step of the closed D–T fuel cycle that yields ~4.0 kg/yr/yr.
Is it a licensing-relevant component?
Yes. Tritium is the breeder's one genuinely radioactive material, so its extraction, inventory (6.47 kg startup) and accounting are handled with permeation barriers, containment and continuous monitoring, and named as a licensing gate.