13 Facts About Tritium

Tritium or hydrogen-3 is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen.

Tritium is used as the energy source in radioluminescent lights for watches, gun sights, numerous instruments and tools, and even novelty items such as self-illuminating key chains.

Tritium is used as a nuclear fusion fuel, along with more abundant deuterium, in tokamak reactors and in hydrogen bombs.

Tritium was first detected in 1934 by Ernest Rutherford, Mark Oliphant and Paul Harteck after bombarding deuterium with deuterons .

Tritium is most often produced in nuclear reactors by neutron activation of lithium-6.

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Tritium is produced in heavy water-moderated reactors whenever a deuterium nucleus captures a neutron.

Tritium occurs naturally due to cosmic rays interacting with atmospheric gases.

Tritium nucleus, containing one proton and two neutrons, has the same charge as the nucleus of ordinary hydrogen, and it experiences the same electrostatic repulsive force when brought close to another atomic nucleus.

Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen, which allows it to readily bind to hydroxyl radicals, forming tritiated water, and to carbon atoms.

Tritium has been used for biological radiometric assays, in a process akin to radiocarbon dating.

Tritium is an important fuel for controlled nuclear fusion in both magnetic confinement and inertial confinement fusion reactor designs.

Tritium Systems Test Assembly was a facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory dedicated to the development and demonstration of technologies required for fusion-relevant deuterium-tritium processing.

Tritium can be used in a betavoltaic device to create an atomic battery to generate electricity.