Nickel Plating/Coating for the Tritium Technology Program

The Tritium Technology Program (TTP) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), operated by Battelle Memorial Institute, Pacific Northwest Division procures components for the assembly of Tritium Producing Burnable Absorber Rods (TPBARs) for production of tritium (T2) for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Tritium Modernization Program (TMP). TPBARs are designed to absorb neutrons and act as one of the nuclear reaction moderators within a Commercial Nuclear Reactor (CNR).

The neutron absorption reactions result in the formation of T2, which is the radioactive isotope of hydrogen that contains 2 additional neutrons and has a half-life of ~12.3 years. Two of the TPBAR components outlined in this Statement of Work (SOW), Full-Length Getter Plated Getter Tube (FLG) and Getter Disk, are made from a zirconium-based substrate which is proven to be a good hydrogen absorbing material due to its ability to combine with hydrogen to form a metal hydride.

The problem with zirconium as a hydrogen absorbing material is the natural formation of zirconium oxide on its surface which does a really good job of preventing hydrogen ingress. As a result, these TPBAR components require nickel plating/coating on the Zr-4 substrate to prevent the formation of Zr-oxide on the surface of the components. The nickel layer serves the purposes of 1.) Acting as a catalyst to dissociate T2 into T, and 2.) Allow T to diffuse into the Zr-4 for gettering as a Zirconium-tritide (Zr-T).

As detailed in Section 2.5 below, the Zr-4 tubes and disks will be provided to the Contractor as Government Furnished Materials. In addition to plating/coating of the long, thin FLGs (~160” long, ~0.008” wall thickness),) and small Getter Disks (~5/16” Diameter, ~5/32” thick), the Contractor will also be required to perform heat treatment of components as well as perform unique acceptance testing in order to meet all requirements of the drawing and specification.

See attached sources sought doucment and draft Statement of Work for more information. Interested parties who consider themselves qualified to perform the services outlined in the attached sources sought document and draft Statement of Work must submit a response by 4:00pm PST on February 16, 2024 to Katie.Henderson@pnnl.gov.