US scientists test accelerator to make tritium from nuclear waste

US scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, led by physicist Terence Tarnowsky, have developed a novel molten-salt accelerator system aimed at producing commercial tritium from nuclear waste. Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen essential for nuclear fusion reactors, is currently scarce and not commercially produced in the US despite its critical role in fusion energy development. The new system uses a particle accelerator to bombard molten lithium salt with high-energy particles, generating neutrons that induce reactions to create tritium. This approach not only addresses the tritium shortage but also repurposes spent nuclear fuel, offering a sustainable and potentially safer tritium source. The accelerator-driven method offers significant advantages over traditional nuclear reactors, including the ability to be switched on and off and the absence of self-sustaining chain reactions, which enhances operational control and safety. The research team employed modeling and simulation to optimize the design, performance, and cost-effectiveness of the system, with plans to further evaluate production costs and