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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.
L. Patryl, D. Galeriu, P. Armand
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 4 | November 2011 | Pages 1228-1231
Environmental and Organically Bound Tritium | Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12652
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Precipitation scavenging coefficients, such as the HTO washout rate, are often derived from raindrop intensity and average velocity of drop. In this study, several Drop Size Distribution (DSD) functions based on experimental data are compared to calculate HTO concentration, by using Chamberlain equation, then the washout rate. Variability of Gamma, Lognormal and Marshall-Palmer distributions on the rain concentrations and washout rates are estimated. The fall velocities of drops are computed for every DSD with Kessler, Andronache, Seinfield and Loosmore and empirical formula used in the CEA code called CERES which is the CEA reference computational tool for impact assessment. Results show that the HTO concentration in drops and the scavenging coefficient depends very closely on rain characteristics. More than the choice of velocity drop calculations, which represent an uncertainty less than 20%, the choice of the distribution is important and depends on the rain observed. Certain assumptions can lead to uncertainty about a factor 2 to 3 on HTO concentration in rain and on the washout rate.