Tritium permeation inhibiting layer for high-temperature materials

In order to prevent tritium contaminations, several spinel layers, which are separated by metallic intermediate layers (Fe, Ni) and covered by a metal layer (Ni), are deposited on the reactor components of a HTR which consist, e.g., of a steel with a high nickel content. The spinel layers are between 3 and 2 m thick. With this measure, tritium permeation could be reduced by a factor of 3 x 10 (steam spinellisation). (orig./PW)