Abstract: Methods and systems directed to the separation of tritium from an aqueous stream are described. The separation method is a multistage method that includes a purification stage during which tritium of a tritium-contaminated aqueous stream is adsorbed onto a cooled and wet separation phase, a regeneration stage during which the adsorbed tritium is exchanged with hydrogen in a gaseous stream to regenerate the separation phase and provide a gaseous stream with a high tritium concentration, and a third stage during which the tritium of the gaseous stream is separated from the gaseous stream as a gaseous tritium product.

Abstract: A tubular assembly and method for its manufacture is disclosed wherein an internal device is positioned and sealed in-line within a metal tube that is formed by two sections which are spin, inertia, or forge welded together so that the flash produced by the weld flows into the interior tube where the device is placed and the flash seals the device outer wall peripherally to the tube inner wall to form a gas tight seal. In a preferred embodiment the internal device is a gas filter for hydrogen gas.

Abstract: A large, low cost and high quality optical telescope system (1) includes a segmented primary mirror (2) having a plurality of spherical mirror segments (3) arranged in a non-spherical shape (4), a parabolic shape in the disclosed embodiment, so that the rays incident upon the individual spherical mirror segments stay separated at an exit pupil (5) of the system, allowing for correction of aberrations. A discontinuous pupil corrector in the form of a segmented mirror (7) having a plurality of aspheric correction terms in it, is located at the exit pupil for correction of aberrations introduced from respective ones of the plurality of spherical mirror segments of the primary mirror. The discontinuous pupil corrector preferably is a segmented deformable mirror. The telescope system and related method can achieve diffraction limited performance for very large systems. The disclosed embodiment is a 35 meter aperture, deployable space telescope system.

Abstract: According to the present invention, light is provided to an elliptical optical surface (102) separating first and second homogeneous optical media (104), (106) that cause collimated light (108) originating in one of the media to be perfectly focussed either at a primary focus within the second medium or at a virtual focus within the first medium (110). For example, a collimated beam (510) is expanded by refraction in an immersion refractive confocal ellipsoid optic (502) having an input optical surface (504) and output optical surface (506). Further, the elliptical optical surface is used in combination with a second optical surface such that both surfaces share a common optic axis and are separated by an optically transmissive medium such as glass and spaced such that the optical focal points of both surfaces are common to create an immersion optical beam expander.

Abstract: An optical sensing system is described which generally comprises an infrared sensor, and a curved diffraction-limited window disposed in front of the sensor such that the optical axis of the sensor is parallel to and displaced from the symmetry axis of the window. The window has an inner radius of curvature which is non-concentric with the outer radius of curvature in order to remove the optical power of the window. Additionally, the window is provided with an aspheric profile outer surface, in order to correct for spherical aberrations in the window. The window is made out of germanium and is particularly useful for a sensor which has an 8-12 micron infrared radiation detection band width.