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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.
Celine C. Lascar, S. I. Abdel-Khalik, D. L. Sadowski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | October 2007 | Pages 489-493
Technical Paper | The Technology of Fusion Energy - Inertial Fusion Technology: Targets and Chambers | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1536
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In a high-yield, low repetition rate Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) system, such as the Z-Pinch IFE reactor, compressible liquid/gas jets offer the opportunity to protect the cavity walls from the target X-rays, ions and neutrons. They can especially limit and mitigate the mechanical consequences of the shock waves produced by rapid heating/evaporation of the protective jets. In this investigation, experiments have been conducted to examine the stability of two-phase jets and quantify the extent by which they can attenuate a shock wave. An exploding wire was used to generate a shock wave at the center of downward flowing annular single- and two-phase jets within a concentric cylindrical enclosure. The pressure history at the enclosure wall was recorded as the shock wave propagated through the attenuating two-phase medium. Experiments were conducted using two different-size jets and enclosures at various liquid velocities, void fractions, and initial shock strength. The data showed that stable coherent jets could be established and steadily maintained with relatively high void fractions and that significant attenuation in shock strength could be attained at relatively modest void fractions. The data obtained in this investigation can be used to validate predictions of shock attenuation models for future IFE reactor cavities.