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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
Jul 2024
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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.
Monday, October 7, 2024|7:00AM–5:00PM MDT
Cost: Free
Limited Space: 100 participants
Must be 18 years or older to participate in the tour.
Boxed lunches will be provided on bus.
Last day to submit paperwork: Foreign Nationals: August 19, 2024 & US Citizens: September 25, 2024.
Note: There will not be hotel pickup offered for this event. Guests must meet at 775 MK Simpson Blvd
TOUR REGISTRATION DEADLINE HAS PASSED
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the nation’s nuclear energy laboratory, will be hosting a tour of some of its key “Site” locations, including the National Historic Landmark Experimental Breeder Reactor-I Atomic Museum, the Advanced Test Reactor and the Materials and Fuels Complex.
Experimental Breeder Reactor-I was the first reactor built at what is now Idaho National Laboratory. It was also the first reactor in the world to prove the principle in 1951 that electricity could be supplied from atomic energy. It is therefore known as the world’s first nuclear power plant and is now a museum and registered National Historic Landmark.
The Advanced Test Reactor, a third-generation test reactor, has held the first position on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s list of the most powerful research and test reactors since it first powered up in 1967. In just months, ATR can rapidly age materials duplicating years or even decades of neutron damage an experiment would see in a commercial reactor. This capability makes ATR the national and international materials and fuels irradiation facility of choice.
The Materials and Fuels Complex is the bustling “metropolis” of INL’s 890-square mile site. MFC is a vital component of U.S. nuclear research and development efforts, with capabilities ranging from post-irradiation examination of new fuel types to producing radioisotope power systems that power spacecraft such as the Perseverance Rover on Mars. It is home to the largest inert hot cell in the world as well as two of INL's operating test reactors, the Transient Test Reactor, and the Neutron Radiography Reactor.
Sign up information to come – space will be limited to the first 100!
