Abstract: The aim of the contribution is to provide an overview of current challenges related to the tritium. Tritium as a radioactive isotope is subjected to the regulation. It is produced artificially at some types of nuclear power plants as a by-product of the fission reaction.
Knowledge of tritium behaviour and properties become important because it is used as fuel in tokamaks. Although tokamaks exist for sixty years, not all related challenges have been successfully solved yet and new questions have arisen along the way. The challenges related to tritium are divided into categories based on corresponding scientific disciplines: tritium detection and analysis (technological tokamak parts), tritium production connected with lithium enrichment, hydrogen isotope separation for tritium purification (fuel for tokamaks) or decontamination (decommissioning of experimental facilities and future plants). The decontamination of tritiated parts needs to be optimized for future decommissioning of tokamak parts. Biological studies, mathematical modelling, and radiology focused on tritium is being developed to increase public safety and to describe the transfer of tritium in materials, biological systems and the environment. Identified and listed challenges are known problems for experts in the field. Authors are focusing on main issues that are currently under investigation in scientific community as were presented on the first Tritium School organised by the TRANSAT project in Ljubljana 2019.