Tritium and lithium diffusion mechanism in neutron-irradiated β-6LiAl

In the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI), technology for tritium production by use of Li-6-Al alloy has been developed with the aim of furnishing tritium for fusion research. The alloy contains beta-phase, i.e., intermetallic compound beta-LiAl, which has a large influence on the tritium behavior in Li-6-AI alloy. Since beta-LiAl has a unique crystal structure and a large amount of Li vacancy at room temperature, the tritium behavior in beta-LiAl is affected by the defect structure and the lithium diffusion. In this paper, on the basis of a simultaneous measurement of tritium release rate and electrical reseistivity, it is suggested that the tritium diffusion has a strong correlation with the lithium diffusion in the neutron-irradiated beta-(LiAl)-Li-6.