INL readies new Sample Preparation Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory has completed substantial construction of the first new hot cell facility at the lab site in 49 years—a Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL) that will accelerate research, development, and qualification of structural nuclear materials for both existing and new nuclear reactors. In an announcement last week of the milestone and the ribbon-cutting ceremony held to mark it, INL said the SPL is expected to be fully operational in 2025.
The SPL was designed in 2017 and funded by Congress in 2019. Construction at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) began in June 2020, with substantial completion ahead of schedule and below the $166 million budget, according to INL.
Rep. Mike Simpson cuts the ribbon at the newly constructed Sample Preparation Laboratory at Idaho National Laboratory. Materials and Fuels Complex associate laboratory director Ron Crone, INL director John Wagner, and DOE acting assistant secretary for nuclear energy Mike Goff are also pictured. (Photo: INL)
See for yourself: Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, INL posted a video to LinkedIn with timelapse footage of the building’s construction, key moments from the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and a brief tour of some of the lab’s capabilities by Brandon Miller, SPL mission manager.
As Miller and his colleagues explain in the video, SPL’s nuclear materials analysis capabilities will increase understanding of structural materials for nuclear power plants, including advanced materials that could extend the life of new and existing advanced reactors.
“At the Sample Preparation Laboratory, the main idea is to enable research to happen,” Miller said. “We’re going to take materials that have been irradiated, whether from decommissioned reactors, or from the [Advanced Test Reactor], or from outside entities. We’re going to size them down into pieces that are going to allow us to ship them to other facilities.”
More on SPL: The Hazard Category 3 facility will offer high-throughput characterization of gamma-emitting materials, including mechanical testing and microstructural analysis. SPL will not handle nuclear fuels, eliminating the possibility of alpha contamination and ensuring that lower dose samples can be transferred to other facilities for characterization.
SPL will feature both traditional mechanical manipulators and robotic manipulators. Control consoles at SPL outside the facility’s radiological boundaries and additional remote control consoles in the Research Collaboration Building on the MFC site will allow visiting researchers to direct investigations.
Ribbon-cutting: In attendance at last week’s SPL ribbon-cutting was U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson (R., Idaho), Department of Energy acting assistant secretary for nuclear energy Michael Goff, and the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy deputy assistant secretary for nuclear infrastructure programs Tracey Bishop in attendance. MFC associate laboratory director Ron Crone, INL director John Wagner, Goff, and Simpson provided remarks, and guests received a guided tour of some of SPL’s research capabilities.
“The Sample Preparation Lab will give us the opportunity to partner with other national laboratories, universities and the nuclear power industry,” said Crone. “These expanded collaborations will enable INL to provide innovative material solutions to support nuclear energy in the United States.”
