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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.
S. Sasanka Kumar, M. K. Jayaraj, Ajai Kumar, Ravi A. V. Kumar
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 1 | July 2013 | Pages 54-62
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A17047
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Elemental compositional analysis was carried out on various portions (edges to center) of the film on the ADITYA tokamak window using X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Optical transmission studies were carried out at various points along the length and breadth of the film. An automated tabletop setup was developed for cleaning the coating by back-side etching using an Nd:yttrium aluminum garnet laser operated at its second and third harmonics. Various experimental parameters were optimized so as to restore maximum transmission for the window. It was observed that a wavelength of 355 nm at an energy density of 1275 mJ/cm2 and at a repetition rate of 10 Hz was found to be best suited for this application. It was possible to restore the transmission of the coated portion to the transmission level of bare window portions using this setup.
