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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.
Tim D. Bohm, Laila El-Guebaly, ARIES Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 1 | July 2011 | Pages 278-282
In-Vessel Components - FW, Blanket, Shield & VV | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 1) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12365
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In ARIES tokamak designs, there are assembly gaps between adjacent blanket and shield modules. These gaps allow increased levels of radiation to reach outer components. Three-dimensional models of the tokamak were used to analyze the effect of radiation streaming through both straight and stepped gaps of 1 cm and 2 cm wide. We proposed a novel idea of inserting a WC shield block within the double step region to further attenuate the streaming neutrons. Radiation damage parameters were calculated for the inboard components including the first wall, shield, manifolds, vacuum vessel, and magnet. Our results show that straight gaps allow too much radiation to reach the inboard components, resulting in large peaking in radiation damage parameters. The double stepped gap with WC shield block show reduced peaking and are effective at protecting the vacuum vessel and magnet.
