[en] The procedure is presented for the measurement of the crack length under cyclic load works on the basis of the compliance method which utilizes the coherence between the crack length and the mechanical compliance of the specimen. The use of a personal computer allows the recording of the measurement data without influencing the current test, furthermore, the fast evaluation of the data by means of parameter estimation methods. The procedure is applied to experiments with the CT specimen. The results show good agreement compared to other methods. (orig./DG)

[en] The first step in tritium extraction from the helium loops of a solid breeder blanket is the removal of HTO (and H₂O) in a cold trap operated with liquid nitrogen. For the operational conditions of the ITER blanket loops, several critical R and D issues have been identified. They will be investigated experimentally with a cold trap taken over from FZJ. The setup for these tests and the experimental plan are described. The results will be used for the construction of a new trap in which appropriate temperature profiles can be realized and which can be used also for tritiated gases. (orig.)

[en] The absorption of bismuth from five ²⁰⁵Bi-labelled pharmaceutically used bismuth compounds was studied in man. From single oral doses of all compounds under investigation only <0.1% bismuth was absorbed and excreted with the urine. A significantly higher absorption was observed from the colloidal bismuth subcitrate and the basic bismuth gallate than from the basic bismuth salicylate, nitrate and aluminate. No retention of bismuth in the whole body was found from the single dose experiment. The biologic fast-term half-lives of absorbed bismuth were calculated to be 0.12 and 1.5 days. 14 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

[en] The Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) was commissioned with tritium in 1994 and since then has continuously improved its infrastructure and has expanded its experimental activities. With a fully closed tritium cycle and the license to handle 40 g of tritium TLK is an almost unique experimental facility. More than 10 glove box systems with a total volume of about 125 m³ are operated to house experiments and infrastructure facilities on an area of more than 1000 m². Today TLK has about 23 g of tritium on site. The paper describes the closed tritium loop of the TLK infrastructure and its links to different experiments. Some experience gained during operation of TLK is also presented

[en] Highlights: • Operation of a water detritiation facility under optimized conditions for high detritiation performances. • Improvement of operational procedures to process tritiated waste water. • Handling and reduction of tritiated waste water to achieve enriched low volume tritiated water for sufficient storage. • Demonstration of the efficient availability of the TRENTA WDS facility for technical scale operation. -- Abstract: A Water Detritiation System (WDS) is required for any Fusion machine in order to process tritiated waste water, which is accumulated in various subsystems during operation and maintenance. Regarding the European procurement packages for the ITER tritium fuel cycle, the WDS test facility TRENTA applying the Combined Electrolysis Catalytic Exchange (CECE) process was developed, installed and is currently in operation at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK). Besides the on-going R and D work for the design of ITER WDS, the current status of the TRENTA facility provides the option to utilize the WDS for processing tritiated water. Therefore, in the framework of the EFDA JET Fusion Technology Work Programme 2011, the TLK was able to offer the capability on a representative scale to process tritiated water, which was produced during normal operation at JET. The task should demonstrate the availability of the CECE process to handle and detritiate the water in terms of tritium enrichment and volume reduction. The operational program comprised the processing of purified tritiated water from JET, with a total volume of 180 l and an activity of 74 GBq. The paper will give an introduction to the TRENTA WDS facility and an overview of the operational procedure regarding tritiated water reduction. Data concerning required operation time, decontamination and enrichment performances and different operating procedures will be presented as well. Finally, a preliminary study on a technical implementation of processing the entire stock of JET tritiated water by means of water reduction and tritium recovery and an impact of storage capacity at JET will be discussed

[en] The kinetics of the radiation-induced reactions of carbon monoxide with either an equimolar mixture of deuterium and tritium or pure tritium was investigated at several total pressures and within a range of concentrations that simulate those expected in the fuel cycle of a fusion machine, i.e. 1-6% CO in DT or T₂ containing 0-8% He. The reaction rate was found to be directly proportional to the initial tritium concentration in the gas mixture. From the initial rate of CO pressure decrease, an average CO consumption yield per ion pair of 1.6±0.8 was calculated from a total of 24 experiments. At a constant composition of CO, DT and He, the rate of CO consumption decreased strongly with decreasing total pressure. The main gaseous products found were per-tritiated methane, per-tritiated higher hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide. Water and possibly formaldehyde were identified as minor products. Heated palladium/silver from permeators such as used in fusion machine fuel clean-up considerably enhance the radiation-induced reaction rate between tritium and carbon monoxide

[en] Heterogeneously catalyzed reactions are employed for the different processes developed by the various ITER home teams to recover unburned fuel from torus exhaust gases. Most of the solid catalysts are supported on ceramics such as aluminum oxide or kieselguhr. By isotopic exchange with the intrinsic hydrogen (water) inventory of these materials tritium is immobilized and consequently the catalyst beds may act as tritium sinks or tritium sources during transients in gas phase compositions. To determine the amount of tritium reversibly stored in catalyst beds a so called isotope dilution method was developed. Experiments have been performed to measure this tritium inventory in the catalyst beds of the technical facility CAPRICE operated at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe. The isotope dilution method is described in detail and results from tritium experiments are presented. (authors)

[en] Originally licensed in 1993 the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) is a unique pilot scale isotope laboratory focused on tritium handling and processing to conduct a variety of scientific experiments and development tasks in view of future fusion power plants. TLK currently operates 15 glove boxes of 125 m³ total volume in an experimental hall measuring nearly 1500 m². The tritium infrastructure, comprising of the tritium storage system, the tritium transfer system and the isotope separation system, is integrated into TLK as a closed loop system to supply tritium to the experiments. Having a license for handling of up to 40 g of tritium and a closed tritium processing loop, TLK is a unique institute in non-military tritium research. In order to fulfil all requirements regarding the license, a framework of regulations is applied as a basis for the operation of TLK, as well as the setup of new experiments and the design of components. This paper will give an overview on the framework of operation in view of licensing issues, as well as administrative and technical regulations mandatory to legally and reliably operate an isotope laboratory of this scale

[en] Pb(p,xn) thick target excitation functions were measured in the energy range 10-38 MeV in order to optimize the production of isotopically pure radiobismuth from ^natPb, ²⁰⁶Pb, and ²⁰⁷Pb. Additionally, the decay of Po-isotopes from deuteron irradiation of natural bismuth (²⁰⁹Bi) was exploited for radiobismuth production. ²⁰⁵Bi was produced from ²⁰⁶Pb at 20 MeV with only 2% of ²⁰⁶Bi at 4 weeks post irradiation. Bismuth compounds as used in the treatment of peptic ulcer were labeled with ²⁰⁵Bi for absorption studies in animals and subjects. (Author)

[en] The Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe began operations with gram amounts of tritium in March 1995. Since then, the experimental facilities CAPRICE and PETRA have been routinely in operation. New experimental activities include the analysis of tritium in first wall materials of fusion devices and the development of methods for the detritiation of graphite and carbon fibre composite tiles. The experience gained with Tritium Retention Systems, with the Tritium Transfer System, with portable uranium getter beds and in this context with tritium accountancy is reported. The incorporation of a new Pd packed column into the Isotope Separation System, the increase in storage capacity of the Tritium Storage System, the improvements of the analytical instrumentation and some repair activities are also described. (authors)