Cyclic-oriented management of tritiated waste streams: Recent advances in critical tritium separation technologies

The rapid expansion of advanced nuclear energy has intensified the need for efficient tritium management to mitigate environmental risks and support the sustainable development of the nuclear industry. Although considerable progress has been achieved in tritium separation technologies, a systematic engineering perspective spanning the entire tritium management chain remains lacking. To close this gap, this review establishes an Integrated Tritium Management Framework (ITMF) that links tritium generation, separation, purification, recovery, and utilization. Within this framework, tritium separation from both aqueous and gaseous waste streams is identified as the critical technological bottleneck. Particular emphasis is placed on five technologies—water distillation, hydrogen‒water catalytic exchange, electrolysis, cryogenic distillation, and chromatographic separation—which are critically evaluated from the perspectives of separation mechanisms, engineering maturity, and economic characteristics. The evaluation indicates that all five technologies are technically feasible but await further validation at industrial scale; their economic competitiveness is strongly scenario-dependent and must be weighed against factors such as tritium concentration, throughput, and energy cost. Emerging opportunities enabled by metal‒organic frameworks, two-dimensional materials, advanced catalysts, and artificial intelligence-assisted optimization are also discussed. By integrating recent technological advances with engineering analysis, this review provides practical guidance for technology development, process selection, and engineering implementation, while identifying future research priorities for efficient tritium separation, radioactive waste minimization, and resource recovery in next-generation nuclear energy systems.