Deployment of the Bulk Tritium Shipping Package

A new Bulk Tritium Shipping Package (BTSP) was designed by the Savannah River National Laboratory to be a replacement for a package that has been used to ship tritium in a variety of content configurations and forms since the early 1970s. The BTSP was certified by the National Nuclear Safety Administration in 2011 for shipments of up to 150 grams of Tritium. Thirty packages were procured and are being delivered to various DOE sites for operational use. This paper summarizes the design features of the BTSP, as well as associated engineered material improvements. Fabrication challenges encountered during production are discussed as well as fielding requirements. Current approved tritium content forms (gas and tritium hydrides), are reviewed, as well as, a new content, tritium contaminated water on molecular sieves. Issues associated with gas generation will also be discussed.