South Korea says it can mass produce tritium for fusion reactors
AUG 26, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.0210064
Korea Times : South Korea’s National Fusion Research Institute announced on 24 August that it has developed a process capable of producing 50 kg of tritium breeder pebbles per year. Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with one proton and two neutrons, is a common fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. Unlike hydrogen’s other isotope, deuterium, tritium does not occur naturally in large quantities and so has to be artificially produced. Previous processes have not produced significant quantities of the isotope. According to the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, between 1955 and 1996 the US produced an estimated 225 kg of tritium.
© 2016 American Institute of Physics
