6. Formation of tritium and carbon14

6.1 Tritium formation

This element can be formed in several ways in a pressurized water reactor (PWR). The main ones are fission and neutron-induced nuclear reactions on the boron and lithium compounds present (control rods, for example):

• ¹⁰ B (n, 2α) ³ H ;

• ⁶ Li (n, α) ³ H ;

• ⁷ Li (n, nα) ³ H ;

• ¹¹ B (n,  ⁹ ...