Study on the tritium behaviors in the VHTR system. Part 2: Analyses on the tritium behaviors in the VHTR/HTSE system Original Research Article

Tritium behaviors in the very high temperature gas reactor (VHTR)/high temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) system have been analyzed by the TPAC developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The reference system design and conditions were based on the indirect parallel configuration between a VHTR and a HTSE. The analyses were based on the SOBOL method, a modern uncertainty and sensitivity analyses method using variance decomposition and Monte Carlo method. A total of 14 parameters have been taken into account associated with tritium sources, heat exchangers, purification systems, and temperatures. Two sensitivity indices (first order index and total index) were considered, and 15,360 samples were totally used for solution convergence. As a result, important parameters that affect tritium concentration in the hydrogen product have been identified and quantified with the rankings. Several guidelines and recommendations for reducing modeling uncertainties have been also provided throughout the discussions along with some useful ideas for mitigating tritium contaminations in the hydrogen product.