Increasing the components efficiency of the pilot plant for tritium and deuterium separation in a nuclear power plant

In nuclear reactors using uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator, after some operating time, a tritium concentration increase results due to neutron capture of the deuterium nucleus. Consequently, we have to establish a set of measures to decrease the tritium concentration. The proposed methods are based on high performance installations, usually operating in the nuclear power field. The most important part of the experimental pilot plant for tritium and deuterium separation is the module 300 (cryogenic distillation of hydrogen/deuterium/tritium mixture). The main tasks of that module are: a - to ensure and maintain the proper temperature for hydrogen condensation in the head of the distillation column; b - to ensure the high efficiency of the contact elements for the hydrogen isotopes separation. Therefore, to accomplish the task presented at the point a, the hydrogen distillation column condenser is cooled within a hydrogen cryogenic cycle which ensures a level of temperature within 20-30 K, corresponding to the working pressure of the distillation column. (author)