ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
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.
Y. Oya, Y. Hirohata, T. Nakahata, T. Suda, M. Yoshida, T. Arai, K. Masaki, K. Okuno, T. Tanabe
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | October 2007 | Pages 554-558
Technical Paper | The Technology of Fusion Energy - High Heat Flux Components | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1547
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To investigate retention characteristics of hydrogen isotopes in the first wall tiles made of isotropic graphite of JT-60U, surface morphology, erosion/deposition profiles and hydrogen isotope retentions were examined by SEM, XPS, TDS and SIMS. It was found that poloidal deuterium retention profile was rather uniform, while the thermal desorption behavior of deuterium was quite different depending on the locations of the tiles. Deuterium retained in the upper first wall, which was covered by thick boron layers with high concentration of B, was desorbed at lower temperature than that in the lower area covered by carbon layers with much less B content. Hydrogen retained during the boronization has significant contribution on the total hydrogen retention. D/H ratio in the first wall tiles was appreciably higher than that observed in the divertor tiles. Probably, the lower temperature of the first wall compared to that of the divertor tiles would prohibit desorption of the implanted deuterium and/or its replacement by subsequent D or H impingement. The injection of high energy deuteron originating from NBI into the first wall could have some contribution on the high hydrogen retention of the first wall.