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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.
X. Xiao, L. K. Heung
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 4 | November 2011 | Pages 1415-1418
Detritiation and Isotope Separation | Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12696
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Porous materials such as zeolites, activated carbon, silica gels, alumina and a number of industrial catalysts are compared and ranked for hydrogen and deuterium adsorption at liquid nitrogen temperature. All samples show higher D2 adsorption than that of H2, in which HY zeolite has the greatest isotopic effect while 13X zeolite has the highest hydrogen uptake capacity. Material's moisture content has significant impact to its hydrogen uptake. A material without adequate drying could result in complete loss of its adsorption capacity. Even though some materials present higher H2 adsorption capacity at full pressure, their adsorption at low vapor pressure may not be as good as others. Adsorption capacity in a dynamic system is much less than in a static system, as expected. The same type of material from different vendors or lots may behave differently.
