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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.
M. Matsuyama, K. Shinmura, Z. Chen, Y. Torikai
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 4 | November 2011 | Pages 1491-1494
Interaction with Materials | Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12714
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Solubility of tritium in Cu-Be(2 mass%) alloy was determined by means of measurement of a tritium depth profile in the alloy. Tritium exposure to the samples was conducted under the following conditions: pressure, 0.4 to 2.6 kPa; temperature, 350 to 450°C; exposure time, 4 to 11 hours. Tritium depth profiles were obtained by chemical etching after the exposure. Remarkably high tritium concentration appeared in surface layers within 0.5 m, whereas almost constant concentration was observed from 10 m to the bulk. It was found, therefore, that surface tritium should be omitted in evaluation of the solubility of tritium. In addition, it was seen that dissolution of tritium into Cu-Be alloy obeys the Sieverts' law from the pressure dependence, and the solubility of tritium in Cu-Be alloy was lower than that in pure copper. From the temperature dependence of solubility, the heat of solution of tritium was determined as 17 kJ/mol.
