Speaker
Description
Tritium-producing burnable absorber rods (TPBARs) are irradiated in a commercial power plant to produce tritium for US defense purposes. The presentation will review the current state of the US tritium production program, production history that led to the present state, and discussions of a few planning scenarios for the future. The organization of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Tritium Modernization Program will be presented, with emphasis on the roles of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, including both production and supporting science activities. An overview of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar Nuclear reactors, where TPBARs are irradiated, will be provided along with an overview of the TPBAR design and how the TPBARs interface with the reactor fuel assemblies. Finally, a brief discussion of TPBAR and core design constraints will be provided, along with a summary of operational impacts of tritium production on the reactors.
| Speaker affiliation | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
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