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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.
Stephan Letts, Evelyn Fearon, Mitchell Anthamatten, Steven Buckley, Charlotte King, Robert Cook
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 4 | May 2006 | Pages 714-720
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1191
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We completed the development of a method for preparing smooth vapor-deposited polyimide ablators up to 160 m thick for NIF target capsules. The process consists of two steps. The first step is vacuum chemical vapor deposition of monomer species, pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4'-oxidianiline, onto the surface of a spherical shell mandrel where they may react to form polyamic acid. In the second step dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) vapor exposure in a gas-levitation smoothing apparatus swells and fluidizes the outer surface. Roughness in the outer fluid layer is reduced by surface-tension-driven flow. The shells are cured in the final smoothing step by heating to 300°C, converting the polyamic acid to polyimide. Recent experiments using X-ray radiography have allowed us to determine the depth of solvent penetration and the solvent concentration over a range of solvent exposure conditions. We found that the rate of penetration is a function of the solvent partial pressure in the flowing vapor stream. The concentration of solvent in the swollen layer is ~0.43 g/cm3 and is independent of exposure conditions. Using the penetration information we were able to improve the smoothing process by increasing the solvent partial pressure. The optimized vapor smoothing process allowed us to consistently meet the surface smoothness specifications of NIF capsules.
