Study of an experimental system for hydrogen permeation in thin-solid materials for fusion plasma research

Tritium permeation is one of the key issues in fusion reactor operation. However, detailed permeation data for hydrogen and its isotopes in the fusion reactor candidate materials are very limited. In order to investigate the permeation behaviors of hydrogen in the thin-solid materials, we constructed an experimental system adopting a continuous flow method; high vacuum of 10(-9) Torr and sample heating upto 1273 K were successfully achieved. Hydrogen permeation experiments were also performed by using thin-solid samples of stainless steel (SS 316L); the results were compared with the previously existing reference data. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.