THE USE OF SILICON-CARBIDE AS A TRITIUM PERMEATION BARRIER

Vapor deposited silicon carbide has a very low tritium diffusivity and solubility. When these characteristics are combined with its very good thermal properties, silicon carbide appears to be an excellent tritium permeation barrier for use in fusion reactors and other applications. Calculations were performed to compare the tritium retention in bare graphite and graphite coated with a thin layer of silicon carbide. The coated graphite retained several orders of magnitude less tritium than the bare material. Similar calculations showed a beryllium/copper duplex structure coated with silicon carbide to anew several orders of magnitude less tritium permeation than an uncoated structure.