Membranes for nuclear power applications

Abstract: Membrane technologies are applied to the treatment of air and liquid effluents of fission power plants and wastes produced by isotope laboratories and nuclear medicine facilities. Particularly, membrane pressure driven processes such as reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and microfiltration are widely used for liquid radioactive waste (LRWs) treatment, while purification of air effluents is carried out by filtration. Membranes are also applied to the nuclear fusion fuel cycle: hydrogen isotopes separation is proposed using Pd-based membranes. The main applications concern tritium recovery from breeding blankets, detritiation of gas streams (i.e. plasma exhausts) and water detritiation.