Tritium is a natural by-product of CANDU reactors and has a variety of commercial and industrial uses.  For almost three decades we have designed, fabricated and tested a variety of tritium vessels for the handling, transportation and storage of tritium within and between nuclear facilities and industrial users.  The design and fabrication of vessels for containing tritium is a specialization that requires the understanding of stringent leak tightness and associated testing.

Getter materials used to store the tritium within the vessels are typically depleted uranium turnings or titanium sponge.  The getter materials combine with the tritium isotope to form hydrides and can subsequently be released under vacuum upon heating.  Specialty vessels can be provided as well as vessels with built-in heating and temperature monitoring capabilities.

Helium leak testing of the containment system requires leakage rates as low as 1 X 10-9 cc/sec of helium. Personnel are trained to SNT-TC-1a standards and equipment to meet the stringent helium leak testing requirements of this type of product. 

General project responsibilities consist of high integrity welding, full radiography NDE, fully controlled detailed filling procedures and registered designs.

ODIM Numet’s standard Immobilized Tritium Containers (ITC’s) contain a titanium sponge type product for tritium storage in the form of titanium tritide. The ITC’s are stainless steel vessels with embedded leak tight valving designed to withstand extremes of pressure and elevated temperatures. They are of welded construction and meet extremely strict helium leak tightness requirements. Similar vessels have also been historically supplied to other Canadian and US clients.