.Domestic research utilizing tritium will become more attractive when tritium is produced from the Wolsong Tritium Removal Facility (WTRF) in Korea, which will start to operate in late 2005. As starting domestic tritium technology research, this study is focused on the mass production of commercially available self-luminous glass tubes (SLGTs) and the design of a new product by simulation. With a low power microscope, SEM-EDX, ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) spectrometer, some commercially available SLGTs have been investigated. The inner side of the glass tubes was coated with greenish ZnS phosphor particles with sizes varying from 4-5 μm, and Cu and Al as an activator and a co-dopant, respectively. Besides, the coating thickness is different for each product. and the thickness range of the products to be considered is 10-100 μm. With the phosphor, a binder package was also selected to meet optimal coating conditions. Cathodoluminescence (CL) device (energy: 0-10 keV, electron flux: ~nA) was used to simulate β-ray emitted from tritium. From the CL measurement the optimal conditions were 580-600 ℃ and 30 minutes. At these conditions the degradation of the phosphor by a heat is minimized. We determined all the coating conditions including the phosphor, binder package, coating thickness, and calcinating temperature for the production of SLGTs. Now we are testing our pilot-scale coating device for a mass production with selected experimental conditions.

Self-Luminous Glass Tube (SLGT) Tritium β-Ray Cathodoluminescence (CL) Device

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