Hydrophobic catalysts for the oxidation of tritium (hydrogen) at room temperature

Kubo, Hitoshi*; Oshima, Yusuke*; Noguchi, Hiroshi*; Taniuchi, Junichi*; Sato, Katsumi; Iwai, Yasunori

no journal, , 

Regarding the fusion plants, radioactive tritium is a recyclable fuel. Tritium release into the environment should be controlled as low as possible even in case of a severe accident. In a severe accident in a light water reactor accompanied with loss of electricity, serious damage of the containment and safety-relevant components by detonation of the hydrogen-air mixture should be prevented. Oxidation of hydrogen in a catalytic reactor is considered a reliable way to remove hydrogen and tritium. The typical hydrophilic catalysts are useless due to the loss of activity by exposure to moisture at room temperature. The existing polymer-based hydrophobic catalysts have disadvantage of burnable. In the presentation, fabrication technique for inorganic-based hydrophobic catalysts to achieve a good balance of thermal stability and oxidation activity at room temperature is discussed.