Tritium Light

Tritium and deuterium are common fusion fuel isotopes in the Cobalt Protectorate owing to the comparative ease with which they can be produced and fused within a fusion reactor. Tritium, however, has an inconveniently short half life, meaning that it must often be regenerated aboard long-haul spacecraft through the application of techniques like lithium blankets placed in the path of the reactor's neutron radiation. Because tritium has this habit of drawing attention to itself, whether in the form of large tanks or in the constant maintenance that goes into the highly radioactive equipment that manufactures it, it is only natural that clever engineers would find new and exciting ways of working with the substance and its compounds (i.e. heavy water). Tritium-based lighting is one such side-product of the tritium industry.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Tritium gas or heavy water can be suspended in a transparent vessel coated with phosphorescent materials to create a long-lived light source that requires no external power supply. The resulting light is typically fairly weak, but also shines continuously for years with minimal maintenance requirements. Emergency lights powered by tritium decay are commonly found in both the interior and exterior of a spacecraft - especially those powered by tritium-deuterium fusion, as dimming lighting elements can be replenished from onboard supplies. Secondary navigation markers, important signage, and lighting in crawlspaces and lockers are all common applications.
The low operating temperature of tritium lighting is an additional boon aboard spacecraft. Heat rejection is a serious consideration in the near-vacuum of space, where there is no atmosphere to allow for convective or conductive cooling, and incandescent and diode lights can both produce a significant amount of waste heat. Though tritium is a radioactive material, the radiation that it emits is readily absorbed by the sorts of materials that spacecraft interiors are constructed of, making the risk of exposure minimal for the crew unless the light is somehow broken; thick layers of protective resin or plastic encapsulate tritium light sources to further reduce this risk.

Item type

Tool