As SRS defense work ramps up, Tennessee utility and regulator talk tritium
Jan. 7—The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Tennessee Valley Authority will meet this month to discuss increasing the irradiation of tritium-producing rods, which are shipped to the Savannah River Site and used to replenish the nation's nuclear arsenal.
The Jan. 19 teleconference, open to the public, will focus on a proposal to push the number of rods "beyond what is currently allowed in the" utility's Watts Bar reactors, according to a notice filed Jan. 4.
The meeting comes as tritium harvesting operations at the Savannah River Site ramp up.
Tritium — a rare, and perishable, hydrogen isotope — is used to augment or boost the power of nuclear weapons. Without it, "there wouldn't be a nuclear stockpile," according to Jason Armstrong, the National Nuclear Security Administration's manager at the Savannah River Site.
"It's absolutely vital for our nuclear deterrent," he said in September.
The Savannah River Site's tritium facilities, part of the National Nuclear Security Administration footprint, are operated to supply and process the radioactive gas. The site is the only place in the U.S. where tritium containers, known as reservoirs, are produced and packaged for the military.
From 2006 through 2016, only a single tritium extraction was required per year to satisfy the Department of Defense. Eight extractions are expected in 2026.
Seven tritium extractions were executed in fiscal year 2021, breaking records amid a pandemic.
