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Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Feb 2025
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
18th International Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Analysis (PSA 2023)
Dr. Matthew “Matt” Forsbacka is the director of the Mission Assurance Standards and Capabilities Division within NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) and is responsible for the development and maintenance of NASA directives and standards pertaining to SMA, as well as related methods, tools, and guidance. Previously, he served as NASA’s Nuclear Flight Safety Assurance Manager with responsibility for reviewing the Nuclear Launch Safety Approval Requests submitted by programs and projects that plan to launch nuclear power systems and radioactive material in space.
Prior to rejoining NASA in 2018, he served in senior leadership positions at the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board the Department of Homeland Security. Earlier in his career, Forsbacka held staff level positions at DNFSB and served as a program executive at NASA. He started his career as a Nuclear Research Officer in the US Air Force, entering active duty in 1983.
Forsbacka has a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the University of Virginia and both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Florida.
Last modified May 17, 2023, 4:29pm EDT
