ISO 16646:2024

Fusion installations — Criteria for the design and operation of confinement and ventilation systems of tritium fusion facilities and fusion fuel handling facilities

Scope

This document specifies the applicable requirements related to the design and the operation of confinement and ventilation systems for fusion facilities for tritium fuels and tritium fuel handling facilities specific for fusion applications for peaceful purposes using high tritium inventories, as well as for their specialized buildings such as hot cells, examination laboratories, emergency management centres, radioactive waste treatment and storage facilities.
In most countries, a tritium quantity is declared as high for tritium inventories higher than a range of 10 g to 100 g. In the tritium fusion facilities in the scope of this document, the tritium inventory is deemed to be higher than this range for the whole site.
This document applies especially to confinement and ventilation systems that ensure the safety function of nuclear facilities involved in nuclear fusion with the goal to protect the workers, the public and the environment from the dissemination of radioactive contamination originating from the operation of these installations, and in particular from airborne tritium contamination with adequate confinement systems.
The types of confinement systems for other facilities are covered by ISO 26802 for fission nuclear reactors, by ISO 17873 for facilities other than fission nuclear reactors and by ISO 16647 for nuclear worksite and for nuclear installations under decommissioning. The facilities covered by these three standards, notably ISO 17873, include tritium as a radioactive material among the ones to be confined, but tritium is not their driver of the risks for workers and for members of the public. Nevertheless, the tritium quantities and risks from fusion facilities create specificities for a specific standard (e.g. in fusion facilities, tritium is the driver of routine and accident consequences). Therefore, the scope of this document does not cover the other facilities involved in tritium releases (ISO 17873, ISO 16647 and ISO 26802), even though these other facilities create tritium releases (e.g. non-reactor fission facilities, tritium laboratories, tritium removal facilities from fission plants, tritium defence facilities).