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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.
W. R. Meier, W. J. Hogan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 3 | April 2006 | Pages 532-541
Technical Paper | Fast Ignition | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1165
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Using a simple inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant economic model, it is demonstrated that there are several potential advantages of an IFE power plant based upon fast ignition targets compared with one based upon central ignition targets. The fast ignition version can have a lower cost of electricity (COE) at the same output power, and a smaller fast ignition plant can have the same COE as a larger central ignition plant. This paper also considers the chamber issues raised by using fast ignition targets. Some direct-drive chamber concepts must be larger for cone-focus fast ignition targets because of the increase in the X-ray output. On the other hand, the use of fast ignition hohlraum targets may allow the use of thick-liquid-wall chambers, bringing the benefits of a smaller chamber and containment building, smaller amounts of hazardous waste, and a faster and cheaper development path. However, many technology issues need resolution before these benefits can become a reality.