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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.
What is the competition?
The ANS Fusion Energy Division (FED) sponsors a student paper competition at each TOFE that awards monetary prizes for outstanding papers. Undergraduate and graduate authors are judged to the same criteria. Depending on the number of applicants, up to three awards will be given in total, and awarded to either undergraduate or graduate students. Finalists will be chosen for an oral presentation at TOFE 2024. The student winners will be notified before TOFE, but the certificate presentation will take place at the TOFE banquet.
Who is eligible?
Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to submit papers to the competition. The student must be the first author of the paper. The student must have already submitted an abstract to the Electronic Paper Submission and Review (EPSR) portal as part of the normal TOFE abstract review process.
When is the deadline?
We have extended the deadline to midnight eastern daylight time on July 1st, 2024. Originally, the finalists for the paper competition were going to be given podium presentations at the TOFE conference. We decided to extend the deadline to encourage more participation, but because of that, the finalists will no longer be guaranteed a podium presentation at the TOFE conference.
How to submit your paper for the competition?
Students who wish to participate in the competition should submit their full paper to Lauren Garrison (lgarrison@cfs.energy). The paper can be in .docx or .pdf format. The email should include the subject "TOFE student paper competition." The body of the email should state what university the student is enrolled in.
What type of papers are eligible and how to format papers?
Papers submitted to the competition should be the same style and quality as that which would be considered for publication in a peer reviewed journal. Please use the formatting guidelines of Fusion Science and Technology (FS&T) to format your papers. There is no page limit or requirement, but as a rough guideline, papers are often in the range of 5-15 pages. We hope that any students who submit their papers to the competition will also seek to publish their papers in FS&T in the TOFE special issues. For publication in FS&T, the student will need to submit their paper for publication on the normal TOFE publication deadline and through the journal website, which is separate from this competition. After you submit your paper to the TOFE student paper competition, you can revise it or make any desired changes before you submit it to FS&T for publication.
How are papers judged?
The papers will be reviewed by experts in the field of fusion science and technology. A scoring rubric is used to evaluate the quality and clarity of the writing as well as the scientific merit of the research. We are looking for papers where the scientific method of the research is sound, the writing is understandable with correct grammar, and appropriate references of related works are cited.
Do you have additional questions?
Please contact Lauren Garrison (lgarrison@cfs.energy)
Last modified May 28, 2024, 7:43am CDT
