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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. E. Sawan, M. W. McGeoch, A. Ibrahim, P. Wilson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 4 | November 2007 | Pages 938-942
Technical Paper | Inertial Fusion Technology: Drivers and Advanced Designs | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1614
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In the HAPL program,power plant designs are assessed with targets driven by 40 KrF laser beams. The final optics system that focuses the laser onto the target may include a grazing incidence metallic mirror (GIMM) located at 24 m from the target with 85 ° angle of incidence. The GIMM is in direct line of sight of the target and has a 50 micron thick aluminum coating. Two options were considered for the substrate material; SiC and AlBeMet. The impact of the GIMM design options on the nuclear environment at the dielectric focusing and turning mirrors was assessed. Using AlBeMet results in about a factor of two higher neutron flux. We considered beam duct configuration modifications such as utilizing neutron traps to reduce radiation streaming. In addition, we investigated the impact of lining the beam ducts and neutron traps with different materials that help slowing down and absorbing neutrons.
