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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.
N. P. Basse, A. Dominguez, E. M. Edlund, C. L. Fiore, R. S. Granetz, A. E. Hubbard, J. W. Hughes, I. H. Hutchinson, J. H. Irby, B. LaBombard, L. Lin, Y. Lin, B. Lipschultz, J. E. Liptac, E. S. Marmar, D. A. Mossessian, R. R. Parker, M. Porkolab, J. E. Rice, J. A. Snipes, V. Tang, J. L. Terry, S. M. Wolfe, S. J. Wukitch, K. Zhurovich, R. V. Bravenec, P. E. Phillips, W. L. Rowan, G. J. Kramer, G. Schilling, S. D. Scott, S. J. Zweben
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 3 | April 2007 | Pages 476-507
Technical Paper | Alcator C-Mod Tokamak | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1434
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An overview of the diagnostics installed on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak is presented. Approximately 25 diagnostic systems are being operated on C-Mod. The compact design of the machine and the cryostat enclosing the vacuum vessel and magnetic field coils make access challenging. Diagnostics are used to study four focus areas: transport, plasma boundary, waves, and macrostability. There is significant overlap between these topics, and they all contribute toward the burning plasma and advanced tokamak thrusts. Several advanced and novel diagnostics contribute to the investigation of C-Mod plasmas, e.g., electron cyclotron emission, phase-contrast imaging, gas puff imaging, probe measurements, and active magnetohydrodynamic antennas.
